


From A Dragon's Breath

by melancholymango



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Anal Sex, Double-Dicked Dragons, Dragon Keith (Voltron), Falling In Love, Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Horny Keith (Voltron), Human Lance (Voltron), M/M, Marking, Monsterfucking, Multiple Orgasms, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Smut, i sure do hope it catches on, that's my tag im making up and claiming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 06:44:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 88,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melancholymango/pseuds/melancholymango
Summary: Lance stopped in his tracks, lifting his head to stare fearfully toward their destination. The castle loomed ahead of them, ominous in its state of disrepair. The brickwork and ornate doors that had once held the royal family now stood crumbled and damaged. The beast that occupied the building now had no time for upkeep, it would seem.“Keep it moving, Lance.” A gruff voice ordered from his side. The gentle pressure of the guard's sword settled between Lance’s shoulder blades a moment later, when Lance stayed frozen in spot despite the warning.One more step and he'd be on the bridge. Short and stone, leading straight to the castle door. The final march, less than ten steps before death would inevitably snatch him up in its talons.--With his entire village on the brink of dying from the coldest winter they've ever known, Lance volunteers himself as a sacrifice to the dragon living in the abandoned Altean castle. Only, the great dragon Krolia isn't home, and instead Lance meets Keith. Short, spunky, socially awkward. What starts out as hate at first sight quickly develops into something much more.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a little wip of mine that I started months ago in the car as a fun throwaway idea and now it's a literal full-length novel, to the point that I had to split it into two parts for it to fit under ao3's character limit. Fun!! I'll post the second chapter at the same time as the first because I'm not a CRUEL person, but please comment on both bc im hungry for attention and affection thank u
> 
> It's especially fun because all of this except for the first scene I wrote over the course of like three days, 70k in three days challenge, can you do it?? no!! because you're a person capable of setting rational limits and stopping for breaks!
> 
> This dragon fic was supposed to be straight up smut and then it got super out of hand, super feelingsy, so I wrote my OTHER dragon fic to release that sexual dragon need. And then I ended up adding smut into this one anyway. I highly doubt anyone is gonna complain about too much double-dick dragon content though, let's be honest.
> 
> Okay!! enjoy!!

Lance stopped in his tracks, lifting his head to stare fearfully toward their destination. The castle loomed ahead of them, ominous in its state of disrepair. The brickwork and ornate doors that had once held the royal family now stood crumbled and damaged. The beast that occupied the building now had no time for upkeep, it would seem.

Lance found himself tripping over his own feet, a lump settling in his throat. He couldn't breathe all of the sudden. Why had he agreed to this? What was he thinking?! Sure, he loved his family, but this was one hell of a price to pay for it.

“Keep it moving, Lance.” A gruff voice ordered from his side. The gentle pressure of the guard's sword settled between Lance’s shoulder blades a moment later, when Lance stayed frozen in spot despite the warning. 

One more step and he'd be on the bridge. Short and stone, leading straight to the castle door. The final march, less than ten steps before death would inevitably snatch him up in its talons.

“I can’t do this, I change my mind!” Lance cried out, falling to his knees in the snow. He didn't care that he was freezing, enough to make his teeth chatter and skin sting painfully. The temperatures at the top of the mountain were something fierce, but the fate that awaited him if he went any further was far worse.

Lance turned, blinking away the tears in his lashes and casting a pleading gaze on the guard assigned to his case. He'd known this man his whole life, had always considered him a friend and someone to look up to. Now he was literally looking up to him and begging for mercy. “Kolivan. Please don’t make me go in there.”

“You volunteered.” The guard reminded him, his tone impassive. He stepped closer, hovering over Lance’s sobbing form, a constant silent reminder that he was living on borrowed time.

As much as it pained Lance, he understood why the guard was acting like this. With a job like his, he had to close himself off and remove his own emotions from the equation. Otherwise, the guilt would be too much to bear. And Lance wouldn't want him to live with that. Kolivan was a good man, he'd watched over their village for years and saved many lives. It just so happened that his guard duties also extended to sacrifices. 

Lance sighed, slumping in on himself.

“Yes, but that was before it felt this real.” Lance answered reluctantly. He stared at his hands, calloused and cracked from overuse, shaking uncontrollably as anxiety ate away at him. “It’s gonna eat me alive.”

“I’m sure it’ll be quick.” Kolivan offered, the closest thing to friendly he'd been the entire trip. A shred of his usual sweet personality showing through. The familiarity made Lance crack a smile, albeit a small and bittersweet one. “It was very brave of you to volunteer, Lance.”

“I hardly feel brave right now.”

“The village will always see you as a hero, I won't allow them to think anything less of you. If it weren't for your selflessness, we would have had to force someone into the position you’re in right now. You’re the strongest man I know and it’s my honor to be the one to walk you here.”

“You say all of that like I had a choice.” Lance scoffed. “I wouldn’t have done this if there were any other way. It was between this or watching my family starve. I had to do something.”

“I pray that your death be quick and merciful.” Kolivan whispered, reaching down and squeezing Lance’s shoulder in reassurance. Lance gathered the remaining shreds of his dignity and got to his feet, brushing himself off and sniffling some more air into his lungs.

“Thanks, I’m sure your prayers are gonna make a world of difference where I’m headed.” Lance muttered bitterly, but with a sense of resigned acceptance. He knew this was his only option. Even if Kolivan allowed him to turn around right now, he'd only come to regret it. He needed to sacrifice himself or his whole family would suffer.

He started across the bridge, fingernails biting into his palms.

“Goodbye, Lance.” Kolivan called after him. Lance stayed staring straight ahead, not daring to look back at all that he was giving up. He wouldn't be able to go through with this if he thought on it anymore. 

He marched straight up to the door and pushed on it with all his strength, only managing to move it just barely enough to slip into the castle. He hesitated in the last second though, his breath catching as he betrayed himself and glanced back at Kolivan's retreating form.

But just when Lance thought he might give in and take off running for the hills, he thought of his baby niece and nephew at home. Twins, only two years old, the sweetest little babies in the world. And they would starve if something didn't change soon. Their village was counting on him to do this one thing right.

So he did it. He turned and struggled his way through the crack in the door. He stumbled out the other side, looking around the giant entrance hall. 

Lance was immediately overwhelmed with a sense of awe. He'd been expecting a decrepit crumbling interior to match the exterior, no resemblance to the place that had once held royalty. Instead, he was looking at beautiful marble flooring and furniture nicer than anything you could find in his entire home village. The couches looked comfortable enough for him to sink right into the cushions.

“Hello? Anybody home?” Lance called, stepping into the huge room as silently as he could. His footsteps echoed no matter what precautions he took. He held his breath, waiting for a hulking beast to come slithering into the room with fangs bared. 

It never came. 

Ten minutes later and Lance was still standing there struggling to draw a breath. His anxiety was starting to lull though, as he came to accept that he was alone in the castle for now. 

He huffed out a laugh and walked over to the inviting couch. He plopped down onto it and couldn't help the pleased sigh that escaped his lips. It was exactly as comfortable as he'd been imagining it would be. He closed his eyes. “I guess I’ll just wait around until it’s a more convenient time for me to be eaten. Sure. Why not?”

Lance grew up in a household of eight, and even more than that sometimes when they had long-term guests. He knew what it meant to be awakened rudely. He'd had it all, water dumped on his head, suffocation attempts with a pillow, and screams in his ears. 

This, however, took the cake.

He shifted, slowly drifting out of sleep as something rough and heavy dragged across his arm. Lance, never one to miss out on the chance to catch some extra sleep, attempted to ignore it. It would only be one of his young nieces or nephews attempting to mess with him anyway

The motion repeated not much later. This time it was a pointed edge, just on the brink of being sharp, as it slowly traced across his cheek. Lance sniffled and attempted to lean out of its reach.

There was a longer pause this time, as if debating whether it was worth Lance’s inevitable outburst if they kept bothering him. Common sense gave way to curiosity though and soon enough the pressure returned to mapping out Lances features.

The touch was gentle enough, nothing like the borderline painful ways his siblings would wake him up, so he figured it must be one of the youngest. He reached out suddenly with a lazy smile on his lips, grabbing hold of what he expected to be a hand (or a stick) and quickly finding it was… neither of those things.

The second his clammy fingers wrapped around the appendage, he knew it was alive. It slithered and thrashed away from him, whipping brutally out of his grip and leaving his palm stinging something awful. Lance yelped, bolting upright now that sleep was off of the table for now and maybe forever.

Lance’s eyes flashed open and he found himself staring straight into two dark pools of what looked almost like amethyst. A deep purple color, shattered into lighter streaks and shining vividly in the setting sun that managed to stream into the windows. Lance had pulled hundreds of gems from the mines, possibly even thousands, but never had he seen something so devastatingly beautiful in his life as those eyes.

… Up until they slanted into an angry squint, pure hatred blatantly clear in those swirling irises. Yeah, right about then it was safe to say they were maybe only the tenth most beautiful thing Lance had ever seen. He could definitely think of things he’d rather be seeing.

“What are you doing here?!” A booming voice hissed, echoing off the walls, around the inside of Lance’s skull. It was weird, how the voice managed to be everywhere and come from nowhere at once. Perhaps it was a telepathic thing. Either way, Lance was too paralyzed with fear to investigate it any further.

The dragon wasn’t exactly what he’d been imagining. It was nowhere near the size of the beast his village had told him about all his life. They’d made it sound like the dragon was huge, as big as a ship built to sail across the seas and then some. This dragon was just barely toeing the line of bigger than a bison. It was tiny, as far as Lance had always imagined dragons to be.

It certainly was threatening though, despite the lack of size to intimidate with. It paced around him with wings perched high above its back, big eyes following him like predator to prey, scales as black as coal, huge talons scraping against the marble floors. 

When Lance made the mistake of trying to get up and possibly make a run for it (he wasn’t exactly sure what his body was trying to subconsciously do), the dragon snarled at him. The snarl revealed rows and rows of sharp razor-like teeth, lining the dragon’s mouth in a threatening pattern. Lance felt like he was going to be sick.

“I’ll only ask once more, what are you doing in my home?” The dragon repeated, voice so loud inside Lance’s mind that it made him feel dizzy. He squeezed his eyes shut and drew some quick breaths, willing his racing heart to slow down. He didn’t want to pass out right now, as preferable as that would probably be to being awake through the whole thing.

He slid off the couch, ignoring the way the dragon stiffened and hissed at him. Lance lowered himself onto his knees, folding over into a proper bow in front of the beast. His heart continued to race, hammering away like a hummingbird in a cage inside his chest. This was the end of the road.

“I’m a sacrifice, offered to you by the humble mining village of Altea.” Lance managed, choking around the words only the slightest bit. The dragon gave an inquisitive purr, but Lance didn’t dare look up to see its full reaction. He didn’t want to watch it lick its lips and show off those monstrous teeth again.

“A sacrifice?” The dragon repeated, its voice no longer a shout. It was soft now, soft enough that it didn’t make Lance’s head spin and ache. It was more like a whisper now, gentle and caressing as it swirled around his thoughts. Lance nodded. “What is it that the village of Altea wants from me?”

“Winter seasons are always particularly harsh on the mountain and they bring many casualties, but this year... spring just doesn’t seem to be coming. Our food rations are running out, my people are weak and sickly. They need you to warm things up.” Lance explained, honestly surprised he’d managed to get this far into the process. He’d expected the dragon to swallow him whole the second he was spotted. He could only hope that his plea was getting through to the beast and his death wouldn't be in vain, that their village would be saved. “_ Please _.”

The dragon huffed, tilting its head to the side.

“And if I’m not interested in the sacrifice?” 

“_ Excuse me _?” Lance squeaked out, jaw dropping. He immediately scrambled up into a sitting position, glaring defiantly up at the beast in front of him. It simply snuffed him, tilting its nose up into the air and sauntering off toward one of the long hallways extending off the room.

“You heard me.” It called back to him, words dancing around Lance’s mind. “_ Go home _.”

And if Lance had even a shred of self-preservation in his stupid skull, he would have counted his blessings and ran. Hell, even if he had the sense to be offended on behalf of his village. But no, suddenly he wasn’t concerned about his starving friends and family as much as he was offended by this dragon’s blatant disrespect. What did Lance do wrong?! Did he not look appetizing enough?! It’d been a damn long journey here, but he’d tried to dress up nice for the occasion!

Lance scrambled to his feet and ran after the dragon, stomping his feet as he went.

“Hey! Asshole!” Lance shouted after it, swerving around a corner in the winding hall. “I didn’t come all the way here and offer up my life to be rejected. I’m not leaving until you agree to help my village!”

Lance turned another corner and immediately let out a grunt, his head colliding with the rock-hard chest of a dragon. He stumbled backward, cradling the injury with his hand. Damn, those scales were tough, and sharp too. He drew his hand back, examining the blood streaked across it.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” The dragon snarled, apparently not sorry at all for the injury it’d inflicted. “It’s been a hundred years since my mother last accepted a sacrifice, in that time you humans have advanced infinitely. I’ve heard tell of dragons being _ slain _ by humans, why would I risk entering your domain?”

Lance stared up at the dragon, trying to piece together what he was hearing. 

“Your… _ mother _ ?” Lance repeated, his lips beginning to quirk upward at the corners. A smirk. “You’re not the great dragon Krolia? You’re her _ baby _?”

“None of your business.” The dragon insisted quickly, far too quickly to be considered casual. It’d grown stiff and unapproachable, clearly embarrassed by the topic. Here this jerk dragon had been acting like it ruled the castle when in reality it was just a moody teenager with a superiority complex. Lance couldn’t stifle his laughter even if he tried.

“Wait a tick, are you telling me you’re _ scared _ of us?” Lance asked, only a hint of mockery in his voice. He glanced up at the dragon again, one eyebrow raised. The dragon growled at him, shoulders tense as it took a step backward. The ground seemed to shake beneath them. Lance couldn’t believe this, that something so powerful was afraid of _ him _. “The big bad dragon is scared of the humans?”

“I’m not scared of you!” The dragon hissed, with so much urgency that it was an obvious lie. Lance took a step toward it and the dragon backtracked, eyes following his every movement. “I’m appropriately wary.”

“Scared.” Lance taunted again, because he really didn’t care anymore. He’d come here to get some help no matter the cost, he wasn’t going to back down and leave because this particular dragon refused to cooperate. He’d wait around for Krolia to return if he had to.

“Go away!” The dragon’s voice wasn’t intimidating at all now, a sense of desperation broadcasted behind the words. It turned around suddenly and took off, curling and swerving through the long halls in a way so graceful that was hard. It slithered out of his sight in seconds.

“Hey, come back here!” Lance took off sprinting in an effort to catch up to the beast, but it was no use at all. It kept far ahead of him, until eventually he only caught flashes of sleek movement ahead of him, a long black tail thrashing around behind its owner. Lance slumped over in defeat eventually, leaning against the wall and panting to catch his breath. “You’re like a goddamn snake, slow down!” 

The dragon did not, in fact, slow down. It definitely didn’t turn around and come back to make sure Lance was okay and not having an asthma attack or something. So Lance was forced to gather his surroundings and decide his next course of action himself. The castle was so large and confusing, he wasn’t even sure if he could find his way out on his own now. 

He wandered down the hall in the direction the dragon had gone, hopeful. It quickly became apparent he had no hope in hell of finding it, with how many rooms branched off of the hallway. So instead he kept himself busy by peeking into some of the doors. Every room seemed more beautiful and lavish than the last and he was quickly growing more and more lost.

And then came the highlight of his journey.

It was an unsuspecting door, a plain wood just like all the others had been. It was sort of tucked away behind a staircase, but it was far from hidden. Lance was expecting more of the same, large four-post canopy beds or plush sitting areas. Oh no, instead he was immediately forced to squint his eyes, practically blinded by the shine and sparkle of _ gold _.

There was so much of the stuff, haphazardly thrown in piles around the room. There were golden crowns, rings, coins, swords, cups, forks, spoons, and more. Then there were various other jewels and valuables strewn in amongst the mess. Hell, if Lance was being honest, some of it just looked like junk thrown in with the treasure.

He let out a quiet giddy squeal, reaching up to clasp a hand over his mouth. No way did he want the dragon to find him again now, he needed to stuff his pockets full and get out of here fast!

Lance treaded lightly into the room, holding his breath as he reached toward a beautiful tiara. He wondered if it’d belonged to the late princess. The entire royal family had gone missing long before the dragons moved into their castle, but maybe they left something behind.

Just as the tips of his fingers just barely brushed the metal, a voice rang out behind him.

“Don’t touch that!” Lance jumped backward like he’d been struck. He recognized the voice immediately, he’d only heard it an hour ago, but something about it was jarringly different now. It wasn’t in his head, it was being spoken from across the room.

Lance turned around, eyes widening comically to see a human boy near his age standing in the doorway.

Well, upon closer inspection, calling him human was certainly a _ stretch _. At first glance he could have passed for one, but the longer Lance stared the more he started to notice details. Two short little stubby horns protruding from the mop of black hair on the guy’s head, a swishing agile tail behind his back, the sparkle of scales across his cheekbones and the backs of his hands, and those inhuman eyes.

As Lance gaped at the boy, a set of wings unfolded from where they’d been mostly hidden behind the stranger’s back. They were definitely the same set of wings he’d seen on the dragon from before, albeit smaller and a little less practical looking. They still shone the same black as black color, like they could blend in with the night sky and never be seen.

“What the-” Lance didn’t get the chance to finish his eloquent question before the boy angrily stomped into the room and shoved him aside with little care, picking up the tiara Lance had been eyeing. He rubbed it off on the robes he wore, oversized and tacky with how blatantly aged they were. That sort-of medieval dress hadn’t been in style for decades. 

“If my mother comes back and smells you on her treasure hoard she will eat you and she won’t do a damn thing to help your village. She’ll probably burn it to a crisp just to spite you.” The boy muttered, mostly to himself as far as Lance could tell. He was getting progressively more and more worked up, a mixture of annoyance and fear.

“You’re the dragon from before?” Lance blurted dumbly, because sue him if his mind was having some trouble wrapping around that fact. The boy paused his frantic tiara-cleaning to get Lance’s smell off of it, looking up with a dull stare. Lance held his hands up in front of himself. “You guys can transform? No one ever told me about that.”

“Would you just go already?” The boy muttered, rolling his eyes.

“I told you, I’m not going anywhere until I’m promised my village will be saved.” Lance challenged, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to appear totally comfortable with the situation. He wasn’t at all, he was very aware of how close to death he was at any given moment. Then again, this particular dragon wasn’t nearly as scary as they’d always been made out to be. Maybe because he was so young?

“I’ll talk to my mother about helping you, but_ only _ if you leave now and don’t come back.” 

“Okay, fine.” Lance relented, deciding that might be the closest thing to a yes he’d be getting today. He turned to leave, finding himself hesitating. He glanced back at the boy, a smile tugging at his lips. He couldn’t help it, something about how uptight this guy was made him want to poke and prod, force him to loosen up a little bit. “I take it you don’t get caught sneaking people into the castle often? Scared you’re gonna get grounded?”

“Get out!” The boy groaned, long and drawn-out, more annoyed than angry now. Lance grinned to himself unabashedly now. That was about the response he’d been hoping for. He stretched his arms high above his head and turned to leave, strolling toward the door. He wasn’t expecting the boy to trail after him, even starting to lead the way when Lance remembered he was utterly lost.

They didn’t speak again until they were standing in front of the tall entryway doors. The stranger nodded toward them and Lance ducked outside, turning to look back at where he stood in the doorway. The wind blew and whipped at his clothes, light flakes of snow falling through the boy’s inky black hair and making him look so much less sour than he really was. 

“Don’t tell anyone about anything you saw here.”

“You have my word.” Lance joked, giving a mockery of the genuine bow he’d tried when offering himself up as a sacrifice. The dragon didn’t seem amused, simply turning and slamming the door shut in Lance’s face. Maybe he had that coming, to be fair. He’d hardly been a polite guest, but he was under the impression he didn’t have to be when visiting a dragon.

Lance shrugged his shoulders and started across the bridge, headed back into the snowy mountains. He could only hope that the dragon would hold true to his word now and save their village from the neverending winter they’d been met with this year.

“Lancey Lance lives to see another day.” Lance mused to himself, wondering if he’d be able to catch up to Kolivan before he dismantled their campsite. He had no idea how to explain why he was coming back to town uneaten and with nothing to show for it. He didn’t want to look like the guy who backed out at the last second, but he’d promised the dragon he wouldn’t tell the truth either. 

He’d just have to throw himself under the bus and say he’d chickened out.

Lance was just starting down the slope of the mountain when the world around him darkened, like a cloud had drifted in front of the sun and blocked out the minimal light they were getting on a snowy day like today. He looked up, hand held over his eyes to try and get a better view by blocking out the sun.

The shadow was no cloud at all.

Lance watched as an absolutely massive dragon flew through the air at such a speed it would be impossible to keep up with it by foot or even on a horse. If the younger dragon’s size was comparable to a bison, this dragon was comparable to the whole farm. He wasn’t even sure that something that size could fit inside the castle. 

Lance turned and watched it glide effortlessly through the air, keeping a visual on it until it disappeared behind the very mountain he’d just climbed down from.

That must be the great dragon Krolia returning home to her child, then.

Lance felt a sense of awe envelope him. “Holy shit.”

\--

A week after Lance’s adventure to the castle of the dragons and he was starting to lose hope. It was colder than ever before, so inhumanely cold that even inside their houses it stung the villager’s skin and turned their lips blue. The entire village had taken to hating him, glaring whenever he’d walk down to the store to trade away anything they could spare for canned rations. Sure, his family had welcomed him back with open arms, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were disappointed in him too.

Despite the cold, Lance had started finding more ways to stay outside of the house and away from his beloved family. He didn’t feel right being near them right now, seeing how awful they were all faring and knowing he could have done something more to help them. 

The guilt was _ eating him alive _, ironically enough.

He spent time outside with the few cows from their herd that had yet to die off from the lack of hay left and the unforgiving temperatures. He shoveled pathways for the rest of his family to travel along through the deep snow, so they wouldn’t have to strain themselves and use any more energy than absolutely necessary when moving around the farm. And at night, when he couldn’t sleep, he would sit on the roof of their house and stare up into the starry sky begging for whatever entity that would listen to _ please help them _.

And one night, while praying desperately to gods he’d never believed in, he got an answer. He was staring up at the stars with tears streaking his cheeks when he saw it, just barely a flash of movement, a shadow whisking past the stars and blocking out his view for a flash of a second. 

Lance got to his feet, looking all around the sky for any other sign of movement. Eventually, he dismissed it, thinking maybe he’d imagined it. He moved to climb down from the roof and froze. There, on his fucking front lawn, the young dragon from before was slowly burning away the snow piled up. Lance lit up in a grin, hopping down from the roof with little care, because the snow was deep enough that it was hardly even a drop for him.

He ran toward the dragon, mindful of the end that was breathing fire.

“Hey!” Lance shouted, only thinking afterward that he should be mindful not to wake his family. The dragon paused mid-exhale, lifting its head and turning to Lance with curious eyes. Lance panted to catch his breath with how quickly he’d ran over, his hand coming to rest on the dragon’s flank for support.

“What?” The dragon asked finally, a hint of irritation in its voice as it invaded Lance’s brain. It sidestepped away from his touch, wary. Lance didn’t even care, he was so deeply grateful in that moment. 

“Thank-you.” Lance said, voice ragged with how urgently he’d blurted the words out, long before he’d even finished catching his breath. He smiled so hard his cheeks hurt and the dragon stared blankly back at him as if it didn’t understand. “I don’t know what to say. You didn’t have to do this, I know you didn’t want to, but I’m so glad you did. We needed you. Thank-you so much.”

The dragon didn’t offer a response to this, it simply turned around to face him. For a terrifying moment Lance thought it might have changed its mind about the whole sacrifice thing, but then it simply leaned forward and nudged its nose into Lance’s back. The next thing Lance’s sleep-deprived brain registered was the dragon’s kind eyes, not at all filled with the same hate from before. _ After that _, he registered how the dragon’s nose was quite literally burning through his clothes.

Lance cried out and jumped away from the insistent nudging.

He was so busy shoving snow into his shirt to cool down and complaining about the pain, he didn’t realize the dragon was herding him in one direction in particular. Soon enough, he found himself standing on his front door step, the dragon staring expectantly at him.

“Oh, what? You telling me to buzz off? Am I annoying you that much?”

“Go to sleep.” The dragon insisted, his tone final. Lance had never taken well to being ordered around though, and this was apparently no exception. He stayed exactly where he was. The dragon huffed, tail flicking in annoyance. “You’re taking care of yourself so terribly you smell like a corpse already. It’s gross. If my sacrifice dies before I can eat it, do I get a refund?”

“Rude!” Lance hissed, picking up a snowball at biffing it straight between the dragon’s eyes. In hindsight, maybe not his smartest move of all time, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. He watched the dragon’s eyes cross, staring at its own nose where the snowball was rapidly melting away into water that trailed down between its scales. The dragon stared at Lance for a long moment, thoughtful.

Just when Lance was starting to seriously worry he’d pushed too far again, that massive tail whipped through the snow and sent a wave of it straight into Lance. He stumbled backward with the force of it, colliding against the door with a grunt as the wind was knocked out of him. He was left buried up to his waist in heavy snow, not even his winter coat doing anything to minimize the cold that sunk into him.

The dragon snorted, puffs of smoke curling up into the night air. Lance opened his mouth to shout something angry, possibly initiate a challenge and suggest an actual snowball fight, but the dragon was quicker than him. It turned around and took off into the sky just like that. 

Lance glared after it, teeth chattering as he climbed out of the snow drift. Asshole dragon had better come back and finish the job while he was sleeping, or else he’d be real peeved by the whole exchange.

(Asshole dragon did come back and finish the job. Asshole dragon melted all of the snow built-up around the town and then some more up into the mountains toward the mines. Asshole dragon also came back _ again _ every time it snowed after, until spring officially came.)

\--

It was a rainy, miserable evening that they received the news. 

A knock sounded on the door of their small cabin while they were all sitting down to eat dinner. Lance’s mother had excused herself from the table and headed over to the door, opening it to greet their visitor with a smile. Lance was forced to watch as the happy expression immediately dropped from her face, replaced by wide eyes and a worried lip bite. He didn’t even have to see who was on the other side of the door to know. They’d known it was coming for weeks now.

So when Lance was asked to take the children into another room, he didn’t protest. He left his mother and his older siblings to face their visitor and do the hard part. They’d been able to talk their way out of it the last few visits, but their debts were growing and the amount they were able to pay back each visit only seemed to shrink.

He sat on the floor in the family room, plastering on a fake smile to keep the atmosphere light. The twins were far too young to understand what was going on, but Veronica’s daughter was a mature eight year old now and she probably already had her suspicions of what was happening. Lance kept them busy with any kind of game he could think of, but he couldn’t deny that his fear only grew the longer the visit stretched on.

It was dark outside by the time the tax collector left. All of the kids were tucked away in their beds, but still Lance stayed sitting in the room with them. If he was being totally honest, he was almost scared to leave and hear what the verdict was. He knew how much was on the line right now. Their entire farm was at stake, the only source of income and food they had. They couldn’t afford to lose it.

It was late when Lance finally walked out to head to his own shared room with his older brother. He waited until he was sure everyone else would be asleep, deciding that he just didn’t want to know yet, he wasn’t sure if he could take bad news. 

But then he walked past the kitchen and froze in his tracks, breath catching in his throat. There was his poor widowed mother, leaning over the table with her head in her hands, muttering nonsensical half-asleep prayers by candlelight. Lance felt tears well up in his eyes and blinked them away, determined to stay strong for her.

“Mama, you should get some rest.” Lance suggested, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She tensed up, sitting up abruptly and trying to hide the fact she’d been crying. Lance had to have learnt it from somewhere after all, the whole damn family was determined to stay strong for each other and still it wasn’t enough.

Lance patted her back, leaning down to wrap his arms around her in a tentative hug. “It’s gonna be okay, you hear me? We’ll figure something out. We always do.”

“Not this time.” She whispered back, burying her face into his shoulder. “They’re taking the farm, mijo.”

“When?” Lance choked out, hands curling into angry fists behind her back. It wasn’t fair! Ever since the original royal family of Altea had disappeared and the kingdom had been taken over by the Galra, taxes had risen to an unsustainable amount. Lance couldn’t count on one hand the amount of people that’d been forced from their homes in his village alone.

“We have three days to get our things together.”

“That’s not long enough!” The frustration was plain as day in Lance’s voice now, despite his best efforts to seem composed. His mother leaned back, her face dry now, and shushed him. She pulled him down into another hug, rubbing soothing circles across his back. 

“Don’t get upset, it won’t do us any good now.” His mother cooed, running her fingers gently through his hair. And a part of Lance wanted nothing more than to melt into her familiar embrace and pretend that everything would work out in the end, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave this stress on his mother’s shoulders alone, couldn’t trust in a universe and a society that had done his family wrong so many times already. 

His father had been drafted into the Galra army when Lance was just a boy, and somehow his life wasn’t price enough to pay... they were still asking for _ more _. 

“I don’t care! I _ am _ upset!” Lance shouted suddenly, uncaring who he woke in the process. He whirled around, pacing back and forth across the room. He ran his hands through his hair, tugging it up in every which direction. “They can take our house that’s been our family for generations when they haven’t even ruled this kingdom for that long?! I hate the Galra family and everything they stand for, I don’t care!”

“Lance, you mustn't say that. Imagine if someone_ heard _ you, you’d be tried for treason.” 

“I don’t care.” Lance repeated, his voice a quiet grumble now. He turned, snatching his jacket up off the hook and shrugging it on. He shoved his feet into his boots, worn and dirt-covered, but reliable as they’d always been. He had a long journey ahead of him, but he would walk through the night if he had to.

His hand landed on the doorknob in the same instant that his mother got to her feet, staring after him in utter exasperation. There was an underlying fondness in her stare though, a sort of pride that couldn’t be faked. Lance had always been her loudest and most stubborn child, nothing he did really surprised her anymore. If anyone was going to change things, he was the one least willing to take no for an answer.

“What?” Lance asked finally, knowing she was just dying to say something. She shook her head, turning around and gathering the materials to pack him some food for his travels. Even before she asked, she seemed to know what he was planning, even if the specifics were a blur.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get us the money.” Lance said simply, leaving no room for argument. She glanced back at him over her shoulder, a thin smile on her lips. “Don’t bother packing, you won’t need to.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re about to do something very stupid?” His mother hummed, tapping her fingers against the countertop as worry started to amount. Lance dodged around the table, coming up beside her and pulling her into his side in a hug. 

“You’ve known me long enough I’d be a little bit offended if you expected anything less.” Lance joked, earning a blunt elbow to the gut. He laughed it off, even as she glared up at him. Despite her eyes being glued to him, Lance reached forward and not-so-discreetly stole some of the meat she was preparing into a sandwich for him. 

“Listen to me.” She said, her voice suddenly serious. She reached up, calloused fingers tracing along Lance’s cheekbone, palm cupping his cheek. Lance met her gaze, familiar brown eyes nothing like the ones he’d inherited from his father. “I’d rather lose my farm than one of my babies, Lance. Don’t do anything dangerous. All the riches in the world couldn’t replace you.”

“I’ve got this. Trust me.” Lance dismissed, ducking down to kiss her forehead. 

\--

The journey was considerably easier to make during the spring than the harsh midst of winter. Though, that being said, Lance couldn’t deny that this trip was somehow even more intimidating than the first one he’d taken, with death in his sights as the destination. 

This time he was utterly alone, Kolivan wasn’t there to help set-up camp and protect it each night when the wolves would howl and shadows would shift in the dark. Everyone knew the wildlands were a dangerous place to be, the fact that Lance was headed toward a dragon’s castle with intentions to steal from it was really the cherry on top.

On the off chance that he survived the journey, he’d be hard pressed to make it back home safely. But he had a plan, he was going to bring back enough gold for his entire family to buy a new house, to leave their current life behind. The village had shunned them ever since his first failed visit to the dragon, had dismissed the early spring as a fluke of nature and refused to believe that he’d negotiated with the dragon in a way that didn’t involve his life as a bargaining chip.

His family had nothing keeping them tied to their current home, and Lance couldn’t help but think they would suit an oceanside fishing community more than a mountainous mining one anyway.

It was odd, the difference in context from this journey to his last. This time when the familiar looming castle came into view, Lance felt a sense of immense relief at having made it there at all. The odds of death still outweighed survival, but this time he wasn’t some hopeless sacrifice with no options left, this time he was here on his own terms. 

And the best part of all? He was going to get in and out undetected.

Lance headed toward the castle as discreetly as possible, ducking behind trees and boulders, purposely messing up his footprints as he went in an effort to cover his tracks. He wasn’t sure how much time the dragons actually spent outside on the ground, given their massive wings and everything, but he couldn’t be too safe. It was one thing risking his own life, but if they tracked him and punished his family too?

He pushed the castle door open slowly, peering around it into the entry hall. After confirming that there was no one around, he slipped inside, staying cautious as he wasted no time in heading for the hallway instead. There were more doors there, it’d be easier to hide if he had to. He was hoping it wouldn’t come to that, though.

Thanks to the terror that had solidified that day in Lance’s mind like nothing else, he somehow managed to trace his path from the last time he was there. Without too many missteps, he found the door hidden halfway under the stairs, as inconspicuous as it’d been the last time. He was careful to close the door behind himself this time, and to lock it for good measure.

The room was just as magical as he remembered it being, every surface seemed to glow and sparkle. He could probably afford to buy an entire city if he took it all, he was sure of that much, but he was only one person. So he settled for one heavy bag full. Lance didn’t waste any time, he immediately opened up the sack he’d brought with him and started to shovel anything valuable inside.

As far as he was concerned, Lance thought he was making pretty good time. He had a bag full of stuff in about ten minutes, the weight of it making his muscles feel heavy and tired already. He ignored the ache in his biceps, swinging the bag over his shoulder and wincing at the clash of metal on metal. He had to move fast, the quicker he was in and out the less chance anyone would see him.

He shoved the door open, chest rising and falling rapidly with each shaky breath he drew. He looked both ways, up and down the hallway, then up the stairs overhead. There was no one lurking, no bright inhuman eyes blinking back at him from the shadowed corners. So he scurried down the hall, keeping his footsteps light and his gaze glued to the path ahead. He had to make it out, he just had to. Everything was banking on him coming home.

When the looming castle doors came into view, Lance’s body positively slumped with relief. He steeled himself to keep from breaking down into tears, instead shuffling as hurriedly toward the exit as he could manage. He reached the door, hand resting on the handle and ready to pull it open, but he hesitated.

He fucking hesitated when stakes were at their highest, when everything important to him was banking on him just pushing forward and not stopping. No matter how he fought it, the tremble in his hand and the waver of his bottom lip, he couldn’t open the door.

Lance wasn’t a thief, his mama had raised him better than that. He couldn’t knowingly hurt an enemy, let alone someone who had gone out of their way to help him and his family in the past. Dragon or not, this guy wasn’t a bad person by a long shot. He was good, and Lance knew better than anyone that good people were often dealt the worst of hands.

Lance groaned under his breath, tipping his head back to stare up at the massive chandelier hanging overhead, crystals sparkling in the midday light that managed to trickle through the high windows.

This sucked. Having morals sucked.

Lance rolled his eyes and turned around, prepared to walk back to the treasure room and deposit his findings right back where he’d found them. He grew sluggish on the walk there, disappointment bogging him down, making his every step clumsy and uncoordinated. The idea of getting caught was only an afterthought now compared to the very real looming knowledge that his family was right back to not having enough money to keep their farm.

It was as he reached into his bag to dig out the last of the treasure that a growl sounded behind him, a low and predatory noise that sent a shiver down his spine. It was loud, so much louder than anything any animal around home would ever be capable of making. It seemed to reverberate off the walls, travel through the floor and up the length of Lance’s body, make his heart race like a rabbit running for its life.

Following the growl, a gust of wind rushed the room, but rather than the usual cool that Lance had come to associate with the evening wind, it was hot. It bordered on burning where the air rushed over Lance’s bare skin, rippling and rolling around him. It took squinting at the air for Lance to recognize the smoke slowly filling the room._ Smoke from a dragon’s breath. _

He coughed loudly, squeezing his eyes shut in fear. 

_ Please don’t be Krolia, please don’t be Krolia, please don’t- _

“You really do have a death wish, don’t you?” The voice was immediately familiar, mostly because of the exasperation laced through the person’s tone. The corners of Lance’s lips twitched upward in a smile despite himself, despite knowing he was far from out of danger’s way yet. But this meant he had a chance, and Lance was nothing if not persuasive.

He spun around, raising his hands innocently between them.

The dragon boy was thankfully in his human form, standing a foot or so shorter than Lance rather than towering over him as a beast. He was rapidly pulling a shirt over his head, his pants already haphazardly thrown on. And there was something the slightest bit hilarious about watching the dragon scramble to make himself decent after the intimidation tactic of growling at him as a beast. That made it just the slightest bit easier to look him in the eye.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Oh, okay. So you're _ not _ stealing from an elder dragon's hoard?” The boy snapped, voice cold and venomous, nothing like the rage-filled shout Lance had been expecting. He paced around the outside of the room, narrowly avoiding stepping on some of the wayward treasure. “That's good, you'd have to be an _ idiot _ to seal your fate in such a horrible way.”

Lance watched him with just the vaguest trace of amusement, the way he pettily stomped around, hands flying through the air in a series of dramatic gestures. 

He definitely seemed caught off guard, maybe a little bit relieved strangely enough, but more than anything he just seemed… flustered. Like he didn’t know what to make of Lance now that he’d determined he wasn’t an outright threat. Though that probably made sense, it wasn’t likely he knew many humans, or got many visitors of any kind to the castle.

“Did you just call me an idiot?” Lance blurted, rather belatedly, a little bit slow on the come-up when there was an angry dragon-boy stomping around him like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Because despite all of the warnings Lance had been told his entire life, he was starting to determine that this dragon wasn’t_ exactly _ a threat either. 

He’d done everything wrong, given this kid every excuse to obliterate him, yet here he was. Still breathing. Still lost as to what he was meant to do in this situation if it wasn’t to run for his life.

“Are you braindead?!” The dragon hissed, whirling around to face him directly again. Lance took a stumbling step backward, the slightest bit intimidated by the smoke hissing from the stranger’s nose and ears in lofty waves. 

“Shut-up!”

“No!” The dragon shouted back. Narrowing his gaze into something determined, the dragon stomped toward him. For each step it took closer, Lance stumbled backward further into the piles of gold, tripping himself a few times in the process.

Maybe Lance had been too quick to decide he wasn’t a threat after all. 

The boy came to a stop in front of him and Lance braced himself, jaw clenched tight as he waited for his skin to boil and burn when fire inevitably engulfed him. Instead, two small pale hands landed on his chest and shoved, with enough force to send him toppling awkwardly into a pile of metal and jewels but nothing more than that. 

Lance groaned, rubbing the back of his head where it’d hit something. This was looking less like a life or death battle with a dragon and more like the spats he got into with his siblings when he did something particularly irritating. “I did what you asked! I risked my own skin to help you and your stupid town out and I didn't get anything in return! And this is how you repay me?!”

And okay, at this point Lance was getting the slightest bit annoyed himself. This jerk was right up in his face, leaning over him and shouting into his ringing ears, uncomfortably hot breath hitting Lance dead in the face. But more than that, he was talking to Lance like he knew him, like Lance had personally disappointed this kid by not living up to his expectations. Damn it, Lance got enough of that from the humans back home, he didn’t have to take it from a dragon too!

“I don't have a choice!” Lance snapped back, kicking his foot out and nailing the guy in the shin. The accompanying growl was something vicious, but Lance’s self-preservation instinct was taking a backseat to his desperate need to prove himself. 

The kick barely even made the dragon flinch, if anything it only seemed to make him angrier. He reached down, grabbing a fistful of Lance’s shirt and yanking him closer still, nearly strangling him in the process. Lance flailed uselessly against the grip, attempting to dig his nails into the guy’s wrist to pry him off, only to find his skin as hard as rock. Yeah, that would make fighting him pretty difficult, actually.

Lance’s mother had always said his ego would be the downfall of him, who knew it would come in the form of a fist-fight with a dragon.

“You always have a choice! You're just making the wrong one and too ashamed to own up to it!”

“You don't know what you're talking about!” Lance yelled back, throwing caution to the wind and headbutting the guy. They both immediately stumbled backward, groaning in pain and still shouting despite the ache between their eyes that kept them from looking at each other.

“I know more than you think!”

“Oh, right, because you’ve learned _ so much _ locked away in a castle by yourself!”

“You do not get to call me stupid when you just walked into a_ predator’s _ lair to steal from them!” Look, Lance wasn’t gonna discredit him there, he did have a point after all. 

But more than the point, he’d also had the_ cutest _ and _ least intimidating _ voice crack of all time halfway through that angry yell. You could tell they’d both noticed it too, the dragon’s face lighting up a fitting shade of red as a blush spread across it. 

Lance could have been the better person and ignored it, kept things professional in this fight they were having, but the fact of the matter was Lance had always been a petty bitch.

“You’re a _ predator _now, huh?” Lance mocked, a chuckle escaping his lips. He raised his hands, shaking them around a bit, eyebrows waggling tauntingly. This time there was no challenge that bounced back at him, no snide comment thrown right back at him. Lance scoffed, rolling his eyes and starting toward the door. Whatever, he was out of here. “I’m shaking in my boots, buddy.”

He made it to the door, but that was as far as he got before a hand caught his sleeve and held on.

“Mother is right, you humans _ are _ vile creatures. No sense of loyalty. So selfish.” The boy growled behind him, all of the humanity seemingly bled from his tone. Lance froze in the doorway, his body going rigid with fear. Fear that he quickly played off, shrugging his shoulders and thrashing a bit to get free, failing miserably with those talons threatening to pierce through the fabric of his jacket any second.

“If you're gonna kill me just get it over with, stop dragging it out.” Lance sighed, hoping the waver in his own voice wasn’t noticeable. He expected that to be the end of it, for the other boy to back down when he realized his only two options were killing Lance or letting him go. He stayed put though, even leaned in closer, close enough that Lance could feel his breath again.

Lance stayed uncomfortably still, heat washing over the nape of his neck. 

“I could do it, you know.” The dragon whispered, grip on Lance’s arm tightening to the point it bordered on painful. Lance winced, feeling impossibly small all the sudden. He hated backing down from a fight though, admitting he’d talked a bigger game than he could ever hope to live up to. 

“What’s stopping you then?” Lance managed gruffly, around the growing lump in his throat. He turned his head despite the way his body protested it, begged him to stay still and hope he survived this out of pity when it was so clear he wouldn’t win out of strength. 

Their eyes just barely met at the angle, Lance’s blue ones impossibly wide as the dragon’s dark ones glared back. The dragon had the audacity to smirk, as if he could hear the pitter patter of Lance’s racing heart, the blood thrumming through his veins dangerously fast. 

“I’ve killed animals a lot bigger than you are. Bison, bears, you name it. It would take _ nothing _ for me to make sure you never left here again, you understand that, right?” It was the mocking little laugh at the end that did it, that snapped something inside of Lance. If this really was the end, he wasn’t going to give this jerk the satisfaction of seeing him struggle. He didn’t regret his actions, he’d do it a hundred times over for his family.

Lance huffed, sticking his chin up in the air.

“Kill me then, if you’re such a predator.” Lance prompted, even going so far as to tilt his head to the side, giving easy access to the whole of his neck. He shimmied his shoulders impatiently, counting the seconds that ticked by. He was met with silence, the heavy breaths behind him stuttering into something light and airy, uncertain. “Go ahead! Take a bite! Rip my throat out with your teeth! Put my head on a pike outside! Use my entrails as decorations! I don't care anymore!”

The grip on his arm disappeared in an instant, recoiling like he’d been the one to inflict burn damage.

“For fuck’s sake.” The dragon grumbled, stumbling away from him. Lance turned to glare at him, hands curled into fists at his side, nails biting into his palms. He wasn’t going to show how afraid he really was, not to someone that expected it of him. “What’s your problem?!”

“My_ problem _?” 

“Yeah, your _ problem _ . You must have something wrong with you to be _ this _ stupid.” It was so obviously meant to be an insult, another in the long line of childish ones they’ve thrown at each other in this conversation, but Lance finds his hard composure cracking the slightest bit. What _ is _ his problem, huh? 

Is it that his family’s back home right now, packing away the meager belongings they’ve managed to hold onto this long? That they won’t even get the liberty of pretending they aren’t scared, of looking death in the eye and challenging it like this? There’s no way they’ll survive out there, they all know it’s true whether they’re too proud to admit it or not. Most threats they’ll face won’t have the decency to hear them out before taking their lives.

Lance was lucky, really, as much as he loathed to admit it. This boneheaded jerk standing in front of him could be his end or his only chance at a new beginning. There was a chance, as slim as Lance’s attitude had surely made it by now. His family wouldn’t get that chance, not with the predators that awaited them in the wilderness. Beasts like that would kill first and ask questions later.

Lance was still a little bit confused when he’d come to consider dragons one of the less terrifying threats in his life. That was where he was right now though, so he’d better make the most of it while he had the option to. 

“We can't afford to keep our house, okay?” Lance sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He couldn’t bear to look the stranger in the eye as he asked for help, his pride couldn’t take it after how he’d acted. He also knew that if he looked he’d see the amusement there, the blatant rejection to his plea before he even finished asking. “My family is so in debt they're gonna repossess it. We're gonna be homeless with nothing to our names. We won't survive long. My mother won't stay in the village out of shame and embarrassment, and even if she would the people there hate us. They wouldn’t offer us shelter or food, we’d starve sooner or later.”

Lance paused, glaring angrily down at the polished floors beneath his feet. It was so unfair. So infuriatingly unfair that his family had to be dealt this hand when they’d only ever been kind, honest people. “Our only option is to travel across the lowlands with nothing. It's dangerous, there are days of travel between our current village and the next. As much as I want to leave the mining village, I know it’s a pipedream to think we’d ever make it anywhere else. My nieces and nephews are too young to walk that far or that fast. My mother is strong-willed, but she’s weak from looking after us alone all these years. I know what’s waiting for us if we leave. I’m not stupid, contrary to what you might think. We'll be picked off by dragons on the first day, I bet.”

Lance looked up, curious, traitorously hopeful.

“Dragons wouldn't eat you, it's not worth the energy it takes to swoop down from the sky. You're hardly a crumb of bread to a full sized dragon.” The boy said, his tone indifferent. Lance glowered at him, feeling the slightest bit disgusted that he was going to have to grovel even further if he wanted help. He just couldn’t do it, he wouldn’t. His pride had already taken a massive hit admitting he needed help, he wasn’t going to beg for it.

“Oh, great. How reassuring. Thanks for your help, asshole.” Lance grit out, throwing his hands up in blatant exasperation. “Now I just have to worry about the orcs, fairies, vampires, nymphs, wolves, bears-"

“Don't kid yourself, your fellow humans are your biggest threats. They're the ones sending you into harm's way over something as foolish as coins.” It was just the slightest bit ironic, as you can imagine, hearing the dragon say something like that in a room filled so full of treasures that every surface glittered at you. Lance couldn’t help the sourness in his tone.

“Says the dragon who hoards gold.”

“Not because it's valuable.” The dragon answered without missing a beat, looking oddly embarrassed considering the topic. He shuffled his feet, kicking at a piece of gold on the floor. “We, um, like the way it shines?”

“Huh.” Lance mused, looking around the room with a new sense of awareness. Before he’d dismissed the trinkets and toys tossed in with the mix, thinking they were just garbage that’d been accidentally dragged in with the valuables. But come to think of it, even the miscellaneous junk all seemed to shine, sparkly and bright. “Well, can I have the _ least _shiny piece of gold then?”

“This is my mother's hoard, not mine. I'm not dumb enough to try and take something from it, she would kill me.” He huffed, shaking his head in immediate dismissal. Lance tried to conceal the way his hopes plummeted once again, watching as the boy shuffled past him and out into the hallway. Lance followed along after him uncertainly, more than a little lost considering the situation.

“Literally?”

“No, you idiot, not literally. She's my mother, not a monster.” The dragon groaned, like he’d just been asked the stupidest question on the face of the Earth. Lance shrugged his shoulders, holding his hands up defensively. It was worth clarifying, in his opinion. 

The boy started up the stairs ahead of him, turning around once he reached the top to make sure Lance was following behind. He was, albeit a lot slower as he took in all the new surroundings of the second floor. This place was like a maze, damn.

While Lance was distracted, admiring the sweeping curtains and and heavy sun setting through the window pane, the dragon’s tone shifted into something lighter, almost conversational. 

“I’m not as far from human as you seem to think, you know. We have family too. We know what it means to fear. To love.” He paused, walking up to stand beside Lance. He stared pensively out the window, expression calculated, while Lance’s was just blatant awe through and through. The dragon braced his hands on the frame, staring out across the land. Lance had forgotten just how highly the castle was perched on the mountain until this moment, until he saw that _ view _. 

“It’s beautiful up here.” Lance choked out, feeling indescribably small. In the distance, he could see the nearby mountain his village was built into, though the village itself was hidden from view on the opposite side. It was difficult not to let his mind wander, to worry about what his family was up to in that moment. 

“I suppose.”

“You don’t think so?”

“You said it yourself earlier, I haven’t really left this castle much in my lifetime. The view gets old, soon enough you just want to be able to go out there and explore it.” The boy sighed, turning to sit on the edge of the window. Lance wondered for a long moment whether he should sit down and join him, but in the end he stayed standing. Wary. “Look, I_ want _to help you. I know better than anyone what it’s like to be looked at as something less than human, to be scorned by an entire community. You think we want to be locked up in a castle? We were banished here, no matter what positive light my mother tries to paint it in, we don’t really have a choice but to stay here. The humans are getting smarter, more advanced, and soon they’ll be a threat to us even in our dragon forms.”

Suddenly guilty for his hesitation, Lance sat down next to the boy, ignoring the thrilled rush of adrenaline that followed. It was impossible not to be aware of the sheer ludicrosity of the situation he found himself in, befriending a dragon. 

“I’m sorry for trying to steal from you, I just didn’t know what else to do.” Lance blurted, lacking the eloquence he was born with as always. The dragon seemed amused if nothing else, snorting out a laugh and leaning back, shoulders relaxing slightly. 

But because Lance had never learnt how to quit while he was ahead, he continued in that same rushed tangent. “And I’m sorry for treating you like a monster. You’re not. A monster wouldn’t have helped us at all, let alone all winter long like you did. You saved a lot of lives, mine probably included. I know better than to think you’d take it now.”

“Then why... would you say those things?” He looked genuinely puzzled, staring out the window with that messy black hair falling in his eyes. Lance bit his lip, reminding himself for the hundredth time that this guy was just a person, not entirely unlike him, but a lot more sheltered. Of course he’d taken it personal, being treated like a beast and not a person.

“I was scared.” Lance admitted, deciding if the literal dragon could be vulnerable then he’d give it a try himself. He scuffed the toe of his boot along the floor in front of them, inhaling sharply. “_ Am _ scared.”

“Scared of a predator who suffers from voice cracks? I must be more intimidating than I thought.” It was very clearly a joke. A little dry, delivered with all the grace of a newborn foal, and made at his own expense… but a joke nonetheless. Lance cracked a smile, chuckling a little bit. 

“Sort-of. I know what you’re capable of and I’d be stupid not to keep that awareness in the forefront of my mind. I hope that’s not offensive, I think it’s mostly just instinct-based.” Lance explained, debating how honest he really wanted to be. “But... I wasn’t scared for my own well-being. I was thinking about my family and what would happen to them if I didn’t bring the gold home. The fear of that happening made it stupidly easy to view you as the enemy standing in my way.”

The boy jumped up suddenly, a genuine smile lighting up his face. Lance leaned back against the window pane, floored by the shock of it. Those were definitely some sharp dragon teeth, two jagged and pearly white rows of ‘em, so it really shouldn’t have been as endearing as it undoubtedly was. Leave it to Lance to meet the one dragon in the world who had to have fucking dimples. Life was so_ unfair _.

“Come on.” He said, reaching out and grabbing Lance’s sleeve in a much more friendly grip now. Lance allowed himself to be dragged down the hall, trying to map out the route they’d taken in case he still needed to resort to making an escape. 

They finally stopped at a set of hardwood doors, doors that the dragon pushed open without any hesitation and marched through. Lance followed along behind him, jaw dropping at what he was met with. Unlike the treasure room from before, which was messy but excusable considering it was all solid gold, this room was messy with no excuse for it. It was all sorts of things piled in disorganized stacks all over the floor and every surface. Some of it sparkled, but most of it just looked like everyday stuff. 

In short, dragons weren’t just hoarders when it came to shiny stuff.

“Geez, is this your room?” Lance asked, only noticing there was a bed amidst the mess when the dragon collapsed onto it with a bounce. He righted himself quickly though, sitting up and gesturing for Lance to walk into the room. Mindful of the mess, Lance stumbled awkwardly over to join him on the edge of the mattress.

“It's nice, right?” The boy beamed, very clearly proud. Lance hadn’t exactly meant it as a compliment, but he wasn’t about to clarify now. So Lance simply nodded, unable to fight off a grin as he watched the dragon clumsily dive into the pile of junk, digging through it hurriedly. “I want to show you something. I just have to find it.”

“Okay.” Lance snorted, looking around the room. It really was an odd assortment of items, clearly from all corners of the world. There was the add valuable, but most of it just looked like knick knacks, souvenirs maybe. Minutes passed by and Lance was running out of things to look at, finding it hard to sit still and not dig through the piles of stuff himself to see what he could find. “Can I help you look? I might be able to-”

“Found it!” The dragon shouted, toppling over in his rush to get back to the bed. He jumped onto it with a thud, holding something out in his hands so quickly it only really looked like a flash of gold for the first few seconds. But then Lance focused on it, on the dainty chain and the large gem that hung from it encased in more gold. He gave an awed gasp, slowly reaching out to take it into his own hands, uncertain if he was allowed.

The dragon didn’t protest though, only sat back and grinned so hard it almost looked threatening. Lance admired the stone in the sunlight, tilting it around and watching it reflect off the polished surface. The dragon seemed to buzz with energy now, impatient to hear what Lance thought. “It's my favorite thing I have. The red stones are really rare around here, even my mother doesn’t have many of them.”

“Rubies.” Lance informed him, carefully passing the necklace back to him. He didn’t miss the expectant gaze, the wide dark eyes hanging on to his every reaction. Lance nodded, a smile gracing his lips despite himself, more to do with the excitement over it than the piece of jewelry itself. “It’s beautiful. I can see why it’s your favorite, it suits you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Lance confirmed, taking the time to guide the dragon’s clawed fingers into closing around the necklace, so he wouldn’t drop it. For a long moment they simply sat there staring at each other, matching smiles on their faces. Eventually, the other boy seemed to break out of his daze, and go right back to digging through the pile of junk at the foot of the bed.

Lance watched in amusement, shocked when he returned after only a few seconds this time.

“I don't really like this one anymore. If I gave you it, would that be enough to save your family?” The boy asked rather sheepishly, holding out a solid hunk of what looked to be genuine diamond. Lance choked on his own saliva, failing to find words for a solid ten seconds. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at! Sure, he’d seen miners find diamonds near home, but never that size.

“Yes.” Lance’s eyes widened in surprise, reaching for it rather impatiently. His heart was in his throat, desperation washing over him so tangible it made it hard to sit still. “God, yes. We could afford to keep our house and more. We would be well off for an entire year or more.”

This time, the dragon snatched it back out of his grip before he could take it.

Lance froze, hands still held out in the air, fingers curling around nothing. He looked up in confusion, his disappointment no doubt written across his face as plain as day. Everything he needed had just been waved in front of him, screw him for getting his hopes up this time.

“You can have it.” The boy blurted hurriedly, like he couldn’t stand to look at the fear in Lance’s gaze for another second. But rather than handing it over, he looked down at it in his hands and sighed long and hard. “I just, um, need a second? I want to look at it one last time. Say goodbye.”

Before Lance could even voice a reply, the dragon was turning his back to him. He curled up, knees tucked in close to his chest, looking so small compared to the moment Lance had first met him. He didn’t look like a beast right now by any means, he just looked like Lance would after a particularly hard loss, after having to give up something that once meant everything to him.

“Do you like jewelry?” Lance asked, scrambling across the bed and settling a hand on the boy’s shoulder with an amount of confidence that was simply unwarranted. The dragon perked up though, turning to watch as Lance drew the cross out from beneath the collar of his shirt. Those purple eyes seemed to light up now, going impossibly wide. 

Lance drew a deep breath, unclasping it from around his neck and holding it out. The dragon snatched it, the hunk of diamond quickly dropped to the floor. “This was my father's. He gave it to me before he died. I'm not really religious or anything, I just wore it so I didn't forget him.”

“Silver?” The dragon asked, putting it in his mouth and biting at it in a way that showed he didn’t actually know how to tell. Lance chuckled warmly, shaking his head.

“It's actually nickel. And the little jewels aren't real valuable ones, just rocks really. I couldn't sell it for ten coins.” Lance explained with fondness, thinking back to the day his father had given it to him. Lance didn’t realize at the time what it meant, where his father was going when he talked about being drafted and war. He’d never imagined he wouldn’t come back. “It's shiny though.”

“Yeah.”

“You can have it, for helping me out so much.” Lance told him, ignoring the sting behind his eyes that tried to demand his attention. He wasn’t going to cry over this. His father would want him to give it away if it meant saving the family. Some things were just more important than the past.

“Really?!” He positively beamed, looking at Lance with the softest smile like he couldn’t quite believe what he was being told. Lance nodded, not trusting himself to say anything aloud just yet. He didn’t regret it, not really. Especially not as he watched the boy struggle clumsily to tie it around his neck, like he couldn’t wait another second to put it on.

Lance blinked rapidly, drawing a deep breath to steel himself. And then he reached out, brushing the dragon’s hair aside and taking the chain from his hands, clasping it at the nape of his pale neck. Lance leaned back, watching the dragon rush to the mirror in the corner and admire the way the cross hung around his neck. It looked better on him anyway, if Lance was being honest.

“You like it?”

“I love it.” The dragon preened, tilting his head from one side to the other, admiring the shine of the cross around his neck. Lance bit his lips to keep from smiling, shaking his head with a fondness he really shouldn’t have felt for a stranger. “Do you want more gold? You can have it. This is better.”

“It's not really any shinier? Why do you like it more?” Lance managed awkwardly, unsure what to make of the gold being thrown in his direction. Piece after piece landed on the bed with a clank, thrown carelessly like it meant nothing now. It was a total contrast from the way the dragon had felt so attached before.

“It was a gift. You gave it to me.” He explained, grinning wildly to himself as he toyed with the cross between his fingers. He looked up, meeting Lance’s gaze and breaking out into an infectious smile. “It's_ special. _”

Maybe it’d been bittersweet there for a second, but suddenly it was difficult to see a single downside to what he’d given up. Somewhere along the way it’d started to feel less like a loss and more like a gain.

“I'm glad you're gonna appreciate it.” Lance concluded, feeling the strangest heat spreading across his face. 

Before he had a chance to rapidly try and change the subject, which was his usual go to when foreign and unfamiliar emotions made themselves known, a loud thud seemed to echo through the entire castle. It made the ground shake beneath them just enough to be noticeable, to make Lance stumble on his feet. “Uh, what was _ that _?”

His answer came in the form of soft, clawed hands grabbing onto his sleeve and tugging him rather forcefully through the piles of junk that covered the room’s floor. Lance yelped, struggling to keep up with the other boy.

“You need to hide!” 

“Was that her? Krolia?” Lance stuttered out, once again tripping over his feet when he took the time to look back over his shoulder. Another door was wrenched open in front of him, leading to a humorlessly clean and organized closet in contrast to the rest of the room. Before he had much time to observe the clothes lining the space—beautiful and expensive robes that looked like they’d once belonged to royalty like the rest of the castle—he was shoved face first into them.

Lance hit the wall of the closet with a groan, rubbing at the places of impact on his head. He turned around with a glare, wincing at the pain in his forehead. “A little warning woulda been nice.”

“You have to be completely silent, don't even _ breathe _. She’ll hear you.” The dragon whispered urgently, looking awfully panicked for someone who didn’t believe their mother was actually a monster. Lance’s frown deepened into something genuinely worried, his heart beginning to race. Even if he wasn’t a particularly imaginative person, he would have been able to piece together what would happen if she did hear him. 

He nodded once, lips pressed tightly together.

The door was promptly closed then, leaving him alone with the gnawing nauseous feeling in his gut that only seemed to grow worse with each passing second. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to take the slowest even breaths he could manage, and quiet too. 

Nearly a minute passed before he heard anything from outside the closet.

“Hey, whatcha reading?” That was definitely a woman’s voice, and more specifically a mother’s, that familiar warmth and love impossible to miss when Lance was so very used to hearing it at home. It was the sort of gentle that you started to roll your eyes at a little as a teenager.

“Ancient texts about the castle’s architecture.” Came the boy’s reply, short and succinct, maybe just the slightest bit rushed as much as Lance didn’t want to admit it. Leave it to him to get stuck in this situation and have his dragon buddy be an absolutely shit liar.

“That doesn’t really seem like your kind of th-”

“You're home early.” He cut her off before she could call him out on it, which really only worked to incriminate him more. Lance winced inwardly, biting his lip and waiting to see if she’d press the topic. 

“I brought back plenty of food. It was easy hunting today.” Krolia hummed, a few quiet footsteps following as she moved closer. She was probably approaching her son, but Lance couldn’t help but eye the doorknob of the closet like it was about to turn any second. “Are you feeling alright, Keith? You're flushed. You aren’t sick, are you?”

Keith.

_ Keith _? 

That was not at all what Lance had been picturing the dragon boy’s name would be. He was expecting something in another language, something foreign and mysterious, something downright impossible to pronounce with the human tongue. This was a little underwhelming, if he was being honest.

“_ Mom _. I’m fine.” Keith sighed, clearly embarrassed about having Lance listening in on the whole exchange. Lance knew that drawn-out whine like the back of his hand as well, having been in that same spot a hundred times over. His mother fussing over him, teasing him, smothering him with affection, it all led to that same groan of annoyance (though he was never actually annoyed). 

It was something else entirely, drawing so many similarities between Keith’s family and Lance’s. It shouldn’t have come as such a surprise, especially now that he was starting to come to terms with the fact Keith wasn’t all that different from him. But seeing similarities between his own mother that he loved and cherished more than anything on this Earth and the great dragon Krolia his people had feared as long as he knew? It was jarring to say the least. 

A stretch of silence followed and Lance was just at the point of getting nervous again when Krolia broke it with a long exhale.

“Something smells… odd.” 

_ Oh, fuck. _

“I took a bath today in some of the soaps you bought last time you went to the human market.” Keith said without missing a beat, like he’d prepared this lie in particular in advance. Did dragons really have a sense of smell that strong? Lance had never really thought about it, but at least Keith knew how to handle the situation. He breathed a sigh of momentary relief.

“Getting restless for something new and exciting, are we?” Krolia laughed fondly, apparently buying the blatant lie. She sounded almost exasperated on top of that, like it was such a believable, Keith thing to do. Lance quirked a curious eyebrow, inching closer to the door so he could eavesdrop further.

“Can I come with you next time?!” Keith all but shouted, driving home the fact that Lance really didn’t need to put any effort into eavesdropping in the first place. The excitement was almost tangible, so devastatingly genuine that Lance knew this was no longer an elaborate ruse to cover his tracks. This had to have been a recurring topic of conversation between them. “_ Please _?”

“We'll see.” Krolia dismissed airily, the smile almost audible in her voice. On the contrary, Keith’s sigh of utter disappointment was definitely audible. “Come on, don’t get mad at me for caring. I just don't want you to get hurt out there. You're still so little, little dragon, my baby.”

“I’m not that little.” Keith pouted, barely even finishing a breath before bursting into another argument for his case. “And what does it _ matter _if I’m small? I’m still bigger than any threat we could possibly run into. I can handle myself, trust me.”

“I do trust you, I just can’t trust everyone else. There’s strength in numbers and that’s something the humans have over us, you understand?”

“_ Please _? I’m ready, I swear I am.” Keith was begging at this point. It was almost sad from an outside perspective, being able to relate to both sides of the argument and see them for what they were. Krolia was only doing her best to protect him, she had a better understanding of the threat outside the castle than anyone could. But Keith was bored, had outgrown this place probably years ago, and Lance knew that feeling he could feel it mirrored in his own chest. He knew what it was like to desperately want something new for yourself, to find the place you belonged.

“We'll see.” Krolia concluded, in a very final and motherlike manner. Lance knew that as the dismissal it very obviously was, an absolute rejection softened so it was easier to handle and wouldn’t cause a fight. It was clear she had no intention of letting Keith go there any time soon. “How about you get ready and come downstairs for dinner? I brought home your favorite.”

A tense pause and then, finally, “Yes, Mother.”

“I love you.” Krolia called, her voice noticeably quieter, further away. If Lance listened impossibly close, he could even hear her retreating footsteps on the hard stone floors of the hallway. He relaxed only the slightest bit knowing she was no longer just a wall opposite from him. He was still in a pretty precarious situation, though. He had no idea how he’d get out of the castle undetected. He was placing all his bets on Keith knowing how to smuggle him out.

It wasn’t long at all before the closet door flew open in front of him. Lance would never own up to the panicked screech he let out as sunlight flooded the dark space. It was cut off by a hand clamped over his mouth though, a low warning growl sounding afterward.

“Sorry, sorry.” Lance muttered, his words muffled and eyes wide. Keith huffed.

“Alright, we need to get you out of here.” Keith said, something focused glinting in the dark amethyst of his eyes. Lance nodded hurriedly in agreement, looking toward the window conspiratorially. Keith dismissed his idea with a silent roll of his eyes, grabbing onto Lance’s sleeve again and leading him out of the room. “There's a passageway that goes underground. You'll emerge somewhere in the forest and have to find your way home from there, but she won't see or smell you that way.”

“Okay, sounds good.” Lance agreed in a whisper, letting Keith lead him the rest of the way there. He never would have found it on his own, at least not without alerting Krolia to his presence. It was door after door, turn after turn, staircases down and down again. And even when they eventually reached the destination, Lance would have passed it by without even noticing. 

It was a simple hatch in the floor, barely noticeable underneath the red carpet of the room. 

Keith kneeled beside it, prying it open with just the slightest bit of struggle. As much as it killed Lance to admit to his own shortcomings and let his ego take the hit, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to open it if it had Keith struggling. The dude was ripped, probably from being a dragon or whatever, but Lance looked like a stick next to him despite being taller. 

“Get in.” Keith ordered the very second the door was open, pointing down into the damp and dark crawl-space below. Lance swallowed roughly, a nervous laugh slipping past his teeth. Oh, how he didn’t want to climb down there and put all of his trust in this stranger’s hands. 

“Hey, slow down.” Lance drawled smoothly, his voice soft like silk. He turned up the charm in an effort to procrastinate the inevitable, fear crawling up his spine the longer he spent looking down the hole he was meant to descend into. He turned to Keith with a smile, prepared to stall and talk his way out of the situation like his life depended on it. “You weren't kidding, she's not a monster at all. She's just your average overprotective mom.”

“She can turn into a monster real fast if she thinks I’m in danger, so you need to leave.” Keith repeated, harsher this time, leaving no room for argument or shenanigans. Lance cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair rather clumsily. He turned back to the boy, trying and failing to conceal his anxiety toward the situation.

“Keith? That's your name?” Lance asked, rewarded immediately with Keith’s eyes going wide. Apparently he hadn’t fully registered just how much Lance had overheard in that closet. He seemed confused, like he was unsure what to make of Lance asking personal questions, or caring about the answers. 

“Uh, yeah?” _ That’s it, Lance, keep playing into it. You’ve got him blushing now, drawing a blank, forgetting the fact he wants to shove you down into a dungeon. _

“Well, Keith, thanks for your help with everything.” Lance beamed, showing off his pearly whites in his biggest and brightest signature smile. He stepped closer and Keith immediately stepped back, like he was wary of Lance getting too close now, probably just realizing how dangerous the other boy could be when he wanted something. 

Lance only grinned harder, pushing forward and throwing his arms around the other boy. He pulled him close in a tight hug, patting him on the back with one of the hunks of gold he’d been gifted. “I really appreciate all you’ve done for me. I owe a lot to you and I promise I won't do anything to betray your trust again.”

“Don't tell me you're dumb enough to plan on coming back here again?” Keith mumbled, avoiding eye contact now. Lance shrugged his shoulders, an air of confidence about him now like he wasn’t on the verge of being eaten alive or forced into a hole in the ground.

“Well, you know what they say about befriending dragons.” He said, watching as Keith’s eyes slowly trailed up from the floor to his face, curiosity piqued.

“What… do they say?”

“That it’s really fucking cool so when you get the chance to, don’t pass it up.”

“No one says that.”

“I’ve definitely said that.” Lance argued nonsensically, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face the more exasperated Keith became. He slapped a hand to his face in the end, shaking his head back and forth. Lance was pretty sure he’d seen a quick flash of a smile before his view had been obstructed though.

“You're one stupid human, you know that?” Keith told him, in a way that didn’t actually sound all that much like an insult. Lance puffed his chest out proudly, nodding his head.

“The stupidest.”

“Well, stupid human, you’d better get going.” He gestured once again to the tunnels below, eyebrows raised expectantly. Lance glanced down at them for all of a second before looking back to Keith.

“Lance.” He introduced himself, holding a hand out. Keith took it rather precariously, mindful of his claws as they shook hands. Lance stepped closer, whispering even quieter than they had been. “My name is Lance, in case you get tired of calling me stupid human.”

“Stupid human suits you better.” Keith dismissed with an indifferent grunt, turning away toward the door. He made no effort to leave the room though, so Lance rocked back on his heels and took a risk, unable to resist the urge to rise to the challenge.

“Watch yourself or I'm gonna start calling you a nickname too.” He threatened lightly. Keith looked back at him, eyes narrowed like he already knew what was coming. Lance winked at him, not at all threatened by it now. “Little dragon, so tiny, just a_ baby _.”

“I'm older than you are!” Keith hissed out, trying to keep his voice down even in his anger.

“Dragons live a lot longer and mature a lot slower than humans do, that means nothing.”

“I'm gonna shove you down into those damn tunnels myself.” Keith growled out, stomping over and struggling to do just that. Lance was fast though, and ungodly flexible, so it was easy to dodge his flimsy attacks and keep him from getting a good grip. Eventually though, Lance made a misstep that cost him his freedom, and Keith was dragging him down into the intimidating tunnels anyway. 

Lance didn’t struggle too much, sighing quietly as he descended the small ladder. It was like something straight out of his nightmares, but if he looked up instead of down he could see Keith leaning over to stare down at him. 

“If I don’t come back again you can assume I died in these tunnels, just so you know.”

“You’re not gonna die.” Keith insisted, before he seemed to register the rest of the sentence. He sighed, very clearly having given up on his argument. “Should I even bother telling you not to come back?”

“Nah, not unless you like wasting your breath.” Lance insisted, hopping off the ladder into a puddle with a wet splash. He looked up, waving dramatically. “Of course I'm gonna come visit my new_ friend _again.”

“We're not friends.” Keith said, straight-faced and deadpanned, as if he meant it. Lance shrugged it off though, never one to be easily deterred once he’d set his mind to something. 

“Are you_ sure _?” Lance prodded, eyebrows wiggling. He turned to look down the long tunnel ahead of him, gritting his teeth. By the time he turned back to Keith, he was surprised to see the puzzled look on his face still hadn’t faded. Keith looked absolutely lost on how to feel, like he’d drawn a blank altogether the moment friendship was brought up. Lance supposed it made sense, it wasn’t like he had a bunch of dragon besties that came over every weekend. 

He laughed, waving up at him. “Don't implode, dude, you'll have lots of time to think it over before you see me again.”

“I…” Keith trailed off, visibly frustrated with himself for messing up. He bit his lip, hesitating for a long moment, before eventually continuing in a much smaller voice. “I’ve never…”

“That’s okay, I don’t mind being your first.” Lance cut him off with a flourish, grinning rather devilishly at the way Keith stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide. The reaction was quickly swept under the rug, replaced by a more characteristic scowl of course, but Lance easily saw through it already. Someone would have to tell Keith one of these days that he wasn’t nearly as good of an actor as he thought himself to be. “See you soon, Keithy.”

Lance turned around, steeling his nerves and starting ahead. He had his family waiting on him and the key to their success in his hands now, all he had to do was brave the trip back home.

\--

The sun was beginning to set on another day when the familiar farmhouse came into Lance’s sights once more. He lit up when he saw it though, grinning so hard his cheeks ached. He took off in a sprint then, running down the long drive leading to the building. Surprisingly, no one was working out in the yard to greet him, so he ran straight to the front door and let himself in. 

Lance stumbled inside hurriedly, that same smile still plastered across his face. His family were all sitting around the table in the middle of eating supper, but they seemed to freeze at his arrival. Relief washed across a few faces visibly, while others just looked the slightest bit perturbed at having their meal interrupted (not naming any names… _ Rachel _).

“Hey everyone!” Lance greeted them, rather breathlessly after running the last leg of the journey. He got a couple responses, but the rest were cut off when his mother got to her feet. Her expression was blank and unreadable as she approached him, eyebrows drawn together in a stern look. She grabbed him by the wrist, leading him into a separate room.

Lance’s shoulders were hiked up around his ears, sighing under his breath. He was prepared for a lecture of a lifetime, after staying away from home for four nights and worrying his mother so.

But rather than tearing him a new one and laying into him, Lance was surprised to find himself pulled into the tightest of hugs. He gave a sheepish little chuckle, as his mother more or less took to smothering him. He gasped for air dramatically, attempting to wiggle free.

“Mama!”

“Don’t ever do that again, you hear me?” She pulled back the slightest bit, cupping his face between her hands. Lance looked up at her with a sigh, a blush no doubt darkening his face under the attention. She placed a kiss to his forehead. “I wasn’t even sure if you’d come back to me this time.”

“Yeah, well, I did.” He dismissed quickly, feeling uncomfortable with all the heaviness in the air. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her. He quickly changed the subject, shrugging the satchel off his back and digging inside of it. He pulled out the first of many gold pieces, this one a shining goblet with jewels encrusted in the sides of it. “And it was worth it. Look at this. We’re rich, Mama, rich enough to buy back the farm and everything we’ve sold before it.” 

A long pause followed. She carefully took the golden cup from his hands, turning it over in her hold. She was quiet, awed, uncertain.

“Is it real?” She asked finally, disbelief tracing the words. Lance nodded, chest puffing out as the pride began to settle in. “Where did you find this?”

“An old abandoned house in the woods.” Lance blurted quickly, chest deflating nervously. He didn’t want her to know the truth, didn’t want her to know that all of her worries had been justified. She would be beside herself with guilt, to think that he’d put himself in harm’s way in an attempt to help her and the family out where she couldn’t. She was a strong woman, and fiercely independent, she would never accept that without thinking of herself as a failure. 

But it was clear his lie was an obvious one. She looked up, eyes narrowing into a suspicious stare. She sized Lance up, no doubt looking him over for injuries. He wavered under her gaze, feeling just like he had as a young child caught lying, stealing food between meals. “Mama, come on, don’t worry about it too much. It’s time to celebrate!”

“You’re lying to me.” 

“Does it matter if I am?” Lance whined, throwing his hands up. He turned around, pacing the room, a nervous tick that he’d always suffered from. He kept glancing guiltily back over at her, searching for approval, for the nod of understanding that would mean the topic had been dropped. But she just kept staring, expectant of him, waiting on an explanation he wasn’t willing to give. “I’m here, I’m safe, and our farm is saved. Just be happy. You deserve it.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? You’re worth more than the farm.”

“I’m fine, okay?”

“What did this cost you, Lance?”

“Nothing!” Lance shouted, unintentionally raising his voice loud enough that the other room might have overheard him. He slumped into himself afterward, turning to face his mother in earnest again. Their eyes met and he immediately winced, knowing his dishonesty was hurting her. “I’ve made friends in high places, okay? It’s not a big deal.”

“Your heart and body are more than bargaining chips.” She told him, her lips set in a firm frown. She opened her arms again all the same though, shaking her head fondly. “Come here.”

Lance stumbled into her hold, burying his face into the collar of her shirt. He let out a long and heavy sigh, going limp against her. She ran a hand through his hair, humming a soft tune as if he was in dire need of comforting after whatever he’d had to do. It was clear she’d jumped to some sort-of conclusion in regards to what had happened.

“It’s not like that.” Lance said finally, biting his lip afterward. “I didn’t bribe it out of him and he didn’t have any ulterior motives. We’re friends. He gave it to me willingly.”

“I’m sure.” His mother’s voice was pinched, unnerving in how distant it sounded. Maybe when he was younger he would have fallen for it, but it just wasn’t in the McClain nature to be good at concealing emotions. It was clear she was pissed, fiercely protective over her son and thinking that someone had done something to do him harm. Lance groaned, pushing away from her.

“He’s a good guy!”

“Lance, the rich don’t do things out of the good of their hearts. Not for people like us.”

“He’s not like that. He’s different.” Lance insisted, beginning to pout at this point. It was frustrating him that she wouldn’t take his word for it, that she believed he was so naive he wouldn’t be able to tell when someone was out to use him for their own gain. The situation was nothing like she was imagining it to be, but he couldn’t exactly tell her the full truth either. “Seriously, he’s like_ no one _ I’ve ever met before.”

“Darling, if he doesn’t want something from you, then he pities you.” It was the way she said it that finally broke through to him, through the layers of confidence and stubbornness that was innately Lance in nature. Her voice was just so certain, so regretful as she explained it to him. It was like when she broke the news to him about the passing of his father, so gentle, so kind, like she was trying to protect him from the truth even still. “It’s as simple as that.”

“He doesn’t pity me.” Lance said immediately, rejecting the very idea. He refused to believe it, to even consider a word of it. He wouldn’t, he just wouldn’t. It wasn’t possible that he’d misinterpreted the situation so very badly. It wasn’t possible that all the while Keith had been catering to him because he saw him as lesser, as a poor underprivileged soul, as a charity case. 

But the longer Lance had to dwell on it, his mother’s knowing eyes boring into his own… the more he couldn’t help but doubt himself.

Keith had every reason to pity him! Keith was rich, powerful, a fucking dragon! They were hardly on the same level in any area of life. Lance couldn’t imagine any way in which he could compare to Keith, as much as every single part of him protested to admitting that. Keith was the top of the food chain, he was settled at the top of the world. Lance was nowhere near him.

“With a power balance like this between you? It’d be hard for him to view you as an equal.” She held the goblet up between them, her smile forced. She set the hunk of gold aside, pulling Lance in again. His inner turmoil must have been plain to see on his face at this point. 

“But I thought he did. I really thought he did.”

“I know, honey, I know.” She whispered back, peppering kisses into his hair. “You deserve someone who sees you as someone just as valuable as they are. Never forget that. Never let them look down on you.”

\--

It took a couple weeks for everything around the farm to start to get back to normal again. Paperwork was sorted, animals that were once sold off were bought back, and Lance received the privilege of taking his niece and nephew shopping for brand new clothes for maybe the first time in their entire life. He had never been more proud in his life than when he was watching a tailor suit them up, their smiles never fading from their faces.

The entire family was like that lately though, all in incredibly high spirits. Everyone Lance cares about was so happy it felt like it should be contagious, should leech into the lives of every single person around them. It didn’t, of course. Nothing was ever that easy. 

The rest of the townspeople were still shunning them, possibly now more than ever as suspicions grow about how they managed to come up with the money. Maybe the rest of his family was too excited to notice it, but Lance certainly did. He felt the stares, the poorly-concealed disgust whenever he went into town. It was bad before, being the failed dragon sacrifice who was too selfish to take one for the team and save their town. It was worse now, now that it was directed toward his whole family, not just him.

Lance had more than that on his mind, though. If he was being totally and completely honest, it might not even be his biggest concern.

Now that they were well off and living comfortably for the time being, Lance had no excuse to want to seek out Keith again. He had no genuine reason for wanting to take a four day trip across the mountains and risk his life again. But the want persisted, feverish and all-consuming in nature, until it kept him up at night a few weeks later. He just wanted to see Keith again, risks and consequences be damned.

So, that very night, he crept past where his brother was sleeping on the other side of the room and all but fell out of the window. He stumbled to his feet, brushing himself off and looking at the darkness around him. He could vaguely remember a time not too long ago when he’d been terrified to leave the village after dark, even if he wasn’t headed straight to the badlands. But now, with a goal in mind, it would be hard to convince him to think twice.

\--

A couple days later and Lance was seriously rethinking his decision to take off in the middle of the night, without packing anything whatsoever for rations. He figured he could live off the land well enough, but aside from one particularly stupid fish he’d been able to catch barehanded, he had gone without food the entire trip. He’d been eating so well lately he had almost forgotten how miserable it was to go without. 

But he was here now and the way his heart was racing in excitement almost made up for the grumble in his stomach. 

He was headed across the empty clearing that surrounded the castle, hiking through the tall grass and hoping for all of his worth that he’d gotten lucky again, and that Krolia wouldn’t be home. As it was, he found himself lurking around outside for a while, trying to catch a glimpse of any movement through the windows. He kneeled in the grass a few feet from the door, debating his next move.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah!” Lance screeched, whipping around and falling on his ass in the process. He clambered backward, staring up at the massive beast crouched in the grass behind him, not at all hidden by it. Lance stared up at Keith in shock, blinking a few times to compose himself. “What are _ you _doing?! You’re not supposed to be outside the castle!”

“I’m just getting some fresh air. I’m practically on our front lawn. I’m fine.” Keith huffed, humes of smoke pouring from his nostrils. He crawled closer, bumping his snout into Lance’s knees and pulling away, eyes alight with something so much kinder than the glare he’d worn the first few times Lance had seen him in this form. Lance found himself begrudgingly relaxing, swiping a hand across his sweaty face. “What are you gonna do about it? Tell Krolia on me?”

“No.” Lance insisted quickly, shaking his head. “No, you just surprised me that’s all. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“You didn’t expect to see me? Out here in the middle of the mountains? Where this castle is the only structure for miles?” 

“Shut-up. Obviously I came here to see you, I just didn’t expect it to happen like this.” Lance groaned at his choice of words, clambering to his feet so he didn’t feel so miniscule in front of Keith. He brushed himself off, looking up at him. “How did you even sneak up on me, anyway? You’re massive.”

“I’ve been spending more time in this form. Practicing.” Keith said noncommittally, laying down in the grass. His long pointed tail flicked back and forth in the grass. He rested his head on his front legs, wings draping across the ground on either side of him. His eyes followed Lance’s every movement, tracking him with an unwavering focus.

Lance approached, still feeling oddly cautious around something he’d been taught to fear for so long. He stepped into Keith’s space, reaching out to run his hand across the scales on his wing and then thinking better of it. He pulled his hand back, tucking it deep into his pocket and turning around to face him again.

Keith looked bored. His jaw fell open, a yawn so loud it made the ground shake bellowing out of his throat. Lance stood on shaky feet, eyes wide as saucers as he fixated on the rows of teeth in Keith’s mouth. It didn’t matter how many times he saw them, they never ceased to intimidate.

“So, what do you want?”

Lance paled under the question, under the scrutinizing squint of amethyst eyes.

“Do I have to want something? Can’t I just come here to visit my friend?” 

“And risk your life to do so?” Keith questioned, and Lance could have sworn he saw a curl to the dragon’s lips at that. A smirk. “I mean, you _ could _, but I don’t see why you would.”

“Our garden needs tilled.” Lance came up with the lie in an instant. It was easier than admitting to the truth, that he really had made the trip here to see Keith again. That felt like something incriminating, like the sort-of thing that would spiral into many more admissions he wasn’t ready to make yet.

“You can’t do that yourself?”

“I mean, I _ could _, but I don’t see why I would when I have a buddy who just so happens to be a massive dragon.” Lance shrugged his shoulders, settling in the grass next to Keith’s leg. Given Lance’s restless nature, eventually he did find himself reaching out and placing a hand on Keith’s scales despite his initial hesitation. He did it without thinking, but Keith didn’t immediately shift away this time, so he left his hand there.

He traced the spaces between scales, thoughtful. “It would take you like two seconds to do the whole garden, come on. You gotta admit, it makes sense.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Keith grumbled. “You humans are so lazy.”

“Haha, yeah, I guess we are.” Lance laughed, all of his insecurities that had been plaguing him lately coming rushing back to the surface. Maybe his mother had been right after all, maybe he was nothing but a nuisance in Keith’s eyes. He was a pity project, a charity case. “Nevermind then, I can just do it mys-”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it, Lance.” Keith interrupted him quickly, maybe a bit too quickly to be considered casual. His voice was so kind, understanding, a warmth there that wasn’t just related to the physical heat rolling off of the dragon’s body in waves.

And to be perfectly honest, there was something special about hearing Keith address him by name, knowing that he’d remembered it since the last time they’d seen each other. 

“You need some convincing? Bribery? You want me to sacrifice myself again?” Lance joked. He joked because he was feeling the slightest bit overwhelmed, more than a little bit flattered by the softness in Keith’s voice. He said it with such fond exasperation, like Lance was foolish for even thinking he wouldn’t want to do it.

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but I_ like _ helping you. Whether it’s a matter of life or death, or just helping you with something that mildly inconveniences you. I’m just… calling you out on the fact that you… made this up. You don’t need my help. You just wanted to see me again.”

Ugh. No one had ever met Lance’s lighthearted dismissal of his emotions with more emotion before.

But Keith was different, as Lance realized more and more every time they were together. It was a kind of different that went beyond just being a dragon, obviously. He was… good. Lance was sure of it. His mother had to be wrong about this. She was wise beyond her years, she’d never steered him wrong before, but she didn’t know Keith.

Sure, Lance hardly knew him himself, but nothing Keith had ever done or said had seemed untrue to himself. Keith, who had never been taught to fully understand sarcasm, who couldn’t read a social cue to save his soul, who didn’t understand the pettiness and the competition of humans. All he knew how to be was genuine, it seemed. 

“Wow, you seem pretty sure of that.” Lance teased, trying to ignore the blush he was wearing like a crown. Damn Keith and his ability to hide it behind his scales, because Lance was really thrown out to the sharks here. There was absolutely no hiding the way Keith’s words were being taken to heart, especially not under that watchful gaze. “I thought we weren’t friends, Keith? Sounds to me like the mighty dragon Keith isn’t as tough as he pretends to be. Almost sounds like he cares about me or something.”

“I do care about you.” Keith said, audibly confused, like he couldn’t comprehend why he might try to hide that in the first place. Lance floundered under the honesty. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to see you again too, you know? You don’t have to be shy about it.”

“Lance McClain? Shy? Sorry, those two words don’t exist in the same realm, they should never be in the same sentence, they just don’t work together. I am anything but shy, I am-”

“Shut-up.” Keith growled to accompany the words, rolling over suddenly. Lance yelped, fully prepared to be completely crushed under the dragon’s weight, to go out like a light for trying to be an annoying shit in the midst of a heartfelt moment. But instead, Keith was surprisingly and perfectly gentle, rolling over and bracing himself over Lance. He lowered his head, nuzzling his nose into Lance’s chest. It wasn’t burning hot this time, just a mildly uncomfortable level of warm, so Lance laid there and tentatively watched it happen.

And then, just when Lance was starting to let his guard down and relax into the idea that a dragon was cuddling into him like some sort-of giant dog… the unthinkable happened.

He pulled back, eyes alight with mischief. Before Lance could attempt to struggle out from underneath him, that massive forked tongue darted out and dragged itself across the whole of Lance’s chest and face in one swoop. It even ran through his hair, leaving it wet and spiked in the front. He laid there stunned afterward, eyes wide and shellshocked.

“EW!” Lance screeched finally, rolling out from underneath Keith and running around blindly as he swiped at his face. He brought his shirt up, scrubbing vigorously at his face. “What did you do that for?!”

“Serves you right.” Keith responded, the strangest grumble of laughter coming from the dragon’s chest now. Lance positively glowered at him, shrugging his shirt over his head and throwing it aside.

“You’re disgusting!” Lance hissed, rolling his eyes. Keith simply continued to laugh, even rolling over onto his back, leaving his legs splayed out in the air. It really was the least intimidating display of a dragon Lance had ever witnessed. “Keith, I know you’ve been locked away from socialization for years, but you don’t lick people! You don’t do that!”

“Maybe humans don’t, but dragons do.” Keith answered easily, once he’d finally managed to compose himself. He got to his feet, stalking closer to Lance and laying down next to him. He curled his body around where Lance was standing, nudging him with his nose again. But this time, instead of trying to herd him back into his home, Keith was toying with him like a cat does it’s food, urging him close to his hold. “It’s an affectionate gesture.”

“I don’t care, it’s gross!” Lance argued, even as he stumbled willingly into Keith’s space. He settled in the crook of his wing, still pouting to himself. “I’m slimey!”

“How does tomorrow night sound? For the garden?” Keith suggested, utterly ignoring Lance’s complaints as usual. He yawned again, stretching his neck out in the sun. He was basking in the sunlight and for a strange moment, Lance stopped to ponder over whether his friend was warm or cold blooded. It seemed a little bit contradictory either way, given he had two different forms, and he breathed fire.

“Tomorrow night works.” Lance confirmed belatedly, starting to get to his feet. He eyed the same direction he’d come from, already dreading the long journey back home. “I’ll, um, see you then?”

“Are you leaving already?” Keith asked, lifting his head suddenly. Seconds before he’d looked to be on the brink of slumber, but now he was fully awake. He got to his feet, circling around Lance as he walked. He shrugged his shoulders, trying to appear casual.

“I don’t know, I don’t wanna overstay my welcome.” It was an honest concern of Lance’s after all the things his mother had implanted in his head. Even if Keith wasn’t looking down on him yet, he didn’t want to do anything to push his luck. He didn’t want to appear needy or any of the usual things he was accused of by people. 

Keith followed him toward the treeline, bounding beside him and then circling back when he inevitably got ahead of Lance’s slow pace. 

“But… you just got here.” Keith said finally, planting himself down in front of Lance. He sat in the way of the path through the grass, making a blockade out of himself. Lance stared up at him, caught between feeling miffed and amused. Finally, he threw his hands up in defeat. He didn’t really want to leave anyway, if he was being honest. He just felt it necessary.

“I could stay…” 

“You should.” Keith agreed immediately, lighting up at the idea. “You’ve hardly had time to rest. Stay.”

“So, what are you practicing?” Lance asked then, looking around the small clearing outside of the castle curiously. There really wasn’t all that much Keith could get up to in such a small space, unless he was flying around the castle in circles. 

“Oh, hunting.” Keith answered. “You wanna help?”

“Uh, I’m not sure how I could? I feel like I’d only hold you back.”

“Not like that. There aren’t any animals around here anyway, they know better than to come near the den of a predator as large as a dragon.” Keith spoke like this was common knowledge and yet here stupid Lance was, walking happily into the den of the dragons. Keith crouched down, stalking through the grass surprisingly quiet. “I’m practicing sneaking and tracking, mostly. It’s not that productive without anyone else here to review how I’m doing though. So, you hide and I’ll find you.”

“You want to play hide and seek?” Lance asked, calling out the offer for what it was. Keith looked at him dumbly, like he’d never heard of the game. Lance decided it was easier to just let it go than try to explain the intricacies of such a game. “I’m down. Even though this would have been absolutely terrifying to me just a few months ago, a giant dragon stalking me through the woods. Nightmare material.”

“Go!” Keith urged him, bouncing around eagerly. Lance rolled his eyes, running into the nearby forest. He ran until his lungs heaved with every breath, but then he hardly had any time to find a good hiding spot once he was there. 

Moments later and already Keith was circling the trees around him, spotting him easily amongst the roots. He sighed when their eyes met. “Did you even try?”

“God, you move so much faster than I do.” Lance was still panting. “I thought I ran so far away!”

“You did. It’s not about putting distance between us, I obviously have the advantage there. It’s about covering your tracks and staying quiet. Sneaking.” 

“Got it. I’ll just pretend Krolia’s coming home any second and getting ready to skewer me for talking to her son. Really immerse myself in my role.”

“She wouldn’t skewer you.” Keith mused, as he led them back to the clearing. Lance was thankful for that, silently, he hadn’t really paid any attention to where he was going. “Probably bite you in half. It’d be quick and painless.”

Lance tripped over his feet, jaw dropping.

“I can’t tell if that was supposed to be a joke or not?” Lance wheezed, looking to Keith for answers and receiving none. He felt a tremor of fear run up his spine at the thought. He’d seen how massive and sharp Keith’s razor fangs looked, he could only imagine Krolia’s sinking into him. Oh, God.

“I said it would be painless, why the concern?”

“Why the concern?!” Lance hissed, outraged. He thought he was well within his right to feel concerned about the topic matter, all things considered. Keith chuckled airily, knocking Lance off his feet with a playful sweep of his tail.

“I wouldn’t actually let her hurt you.” “I’d protect you.”

“How could you?” Lance gestured to the whole of him, the size comparison unspoken. Keith looked the slightest bit annoyed at having it brought up again, but he let it go. It wasn’t like he could deny how small he was by comparison. Lance had seen Krolia flying through the sky, he knew what they were talking about here.

“She would have to get through me to get to you, and she’d never hurt me.” Keith reassured him then, his voice completely earnest. Lance hesitated. He’d been about to run off to his next hiding spot, but now he looked back at Keith with a small little smile. He couldn’t help it, it felt like something incredibly personal, that fierce protectiveness in Keith’s tone. 

Keith, ever the clueless one, didn’t notice the fact that they were having a moment or that his words had landed so emotionally. He just leapt forward, nodding toward the forest. “Now, go! Hide! And be smarter about it this time, I want an actual challenge.”

Lance shook his head fondly, taking off ahead of the dragon.

Lance’s head wasn’t in the game though, his thoughts were so far away from what they were doing. He kept thinking back to the way Keith had spoken to him, so honest and genuine. He found himself growing indescribably attached to the dragon, more and more every time he came here and saw him again. There was just one thing he had to be certain about before he let their friendship progress any further. He had to know, without a fraction of a doubt, that everything his mother had assumed about Keith was wrong.

\--

Lance waited up the night that Keith had said he’d be there to till the garden. He sat on the fence, waiting patiently until finally a shadow of darkness came sweeping down out of the sky in a graceful dive. Keith landed silently, somehow, and immediately went to work rooting up the ground with his snout. Lance smiled to himself as he watched Keith work, totally concentrated on the task.

Finally, he couldn’t resist it anymore, and he spoke up.

“Tell me something-” Lance paused when Keith jumped in the air, wide inhuman eyes zeroing in on Lance instantly to assess the threat. He relaxed visibly when he realized who was speaking. He didn’t go back to work though, he sat there glaring at Lance like his very presence was an intrusion.

“How long have you been watching me?!” Keith grumbled. Lance just winked at him. “Lance, I’m serious! Imagine if someone else saw me here, I need to know that I’m keeping a low profile and if I didn’t even notice you watching me then there’s no telling who else I could miss without realizing i-”

“Do you pity me?” Lance interrupted him, cutting straight to the point. Keith sat back on his haunches, staring at Lance in very obvious confusion, like he couldn’t make sense of what was being asked. Lance sighed long and hard, tipping his head back to stare up at the night sky. “Obviously you don’t see me as an equal. I get it, you’re a giant dragon and I’m just your run of the mill human, but is that_ why _ you’re doing all this? Out of pity? I mean, yes, I did _ need _ your help initially, I’d probably be dead now without it and I acknowledge that, but I can _ usually _ handle my own. At this point I don’t need your help, just so we’re clear.”

“What?” Keith said finally, but even that sounded completely uncertain. “You want me to leave?”

“Like, you know when you see an ant looking for food and you feel bad so you slip him a couple crumbs to carry back to the colony?” Lance attempted to elaborate, struggling the slightest bit. He’d never been very good at the heavy stuff and this conversation had been weighing on him for a while now. Keith didn’t seem to understand the urgency, or what Lance was asking at all. “Am I an ant to you?”

“... No?” Keith said, cocking his head to the side at an angle that would have been impossible or at least severely uncomfortable for most animals. Lance stared back at him, growing more frustrated with the passing seconds. Keith just looked too cute! Too innocent, too oblivious, too trusting of everything Lance ever suggested.

“Do you pity me or not?!” 

“Do you envy me?” Keith countered finally, apparently understanding more of the conversation than Lance had thought. Maybe it wasn’t the topic as much as the context that he was lost to.

“Ha! No!” Lance laughed loudly, dismissing the idea hurriedly, urgently. He hadn’t even stopped to entertain that thought and now that it was thrust at him, he hated it. He didn’t want to think about it. He had spent his whole life envying others, everyone around him that seemed to have it easier than he did in life. Keith probably wasn’t an exception, whether he wanted to admit it or not. “Why would I?”

“Exactly. Why would you?” Keith stepped closer to Lance, purple eyes glinting in the moonlight. He looked deeply thoughtful, considerate. “I live a life of hiding, of being unable to embrace who I am, of being ridiculed and hated by everyone I could possibly relate to. I have no one. No peers, no friends, I’ve never even seen someone of my species that isn’t my mother. What is there to envy about that? What do I possibly have to lord over you? Do you have any idea how _ lonely _ it is to be a dragon? I would switch places with you in a heartbeat.” 

“Ah, shit, I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“I know you didn’t.” Keith reasoned, resting his head on the fence next to where Lance was sitting. Lance reached over, giving an idle scratch to his scales. He wasn’t exactly sure what the protocol was for touching a dragon, what they could feel, and what actually felt good. He’d never thought about it until this moment really. Keith smirked at him, closing his eyes. “You’re just a stupid human sometimes.”

“Hey!”

“You give me as much as I could possibly give you, how is it that you can’t see that? So what if you need gold or chores? The thing I wanted and needed most in my life was someone new to share it with and you’ve given me that. You’ve already held up your end of the bargain, I’ll happily help you with anything you need.” Keith peeked open one eye, staring curiously over at Lance. “That’s what friends do, isn’t it?”

“You’re right, that’s exactly what friends do.” Lance through his hands up, burying his face in them to hide it from view. He felt incredibly sheepish now, stupid for even bringing it up. Keith was so patient with him though, didn’t pressure or judge him at all for it. “I’m sorry. I keep dehumanizing you, don’t I? You’re not a monster_ or _on some godly tier above me. We are equal, despite our differences. I shouldn’t overthink it.”

“It’s okay, I get it. This is new for both of us.” Keith told him gently, nudging his nose into his side. Lance wobbled where he was perched on the fence, threatening to fall off. That turned out to be the preferable option however, when Keith opened his massive maw and went in for another disgusting lick, affectionate or not.

Lance leapt off of that fence as fast and as far as his legs could carry him, darting to the other side of the garden in a hurry. 

“Nope, no, not happening!” Lance yelled, clasping his hands over his mouth afterward to quiet himself down as he lost himself to giggles. Keith didn’t look pleased at all. “Look, I know we were having some sort of bonding moment, but I’m still not letting you lick me again.”

“Whatever.” Keith grumbled. “Your garden’s tilled, by the way.”

“Already?!” Lance gasped, looking down at his feet. It was hard to tell in the dark, he’d figured Keith would have to go over it at least one more time, but sure enough it looked about the same as it usually would at this point. Lance shook his head, totally impressed but too proud to show it. 

He showed it in his own way. He gestured for Keith to follow, headed toward the other half of their property. He felt rather than saw Keith’s heavy footsteps as he followed behind him. 

“Where are we going?” Keith asked finally, when Lance came to a stop outside the barns. He turned around proudly, as he shoved the door open with all his might. He leaned against the frame then, flashing a smile up at his friend.

“You’re gonna have to transform into your human form if you want to fit in here.” He said, maybe the slightest bit expectantly. Keith didn’t immediately transform, instead he start to cower. He looked around, as if hoping to change the subject or dodge the idea altogether.

“I don’t… have any clothes.”

“Oh. Right.” Lance laughed. He immediately started to shrug his overcoat off. “Here, you can wear this jacket. It’ll cover everything anyway, since you’re so-”

“Don’t say it.”

“-small.” Lance finished, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. Keith snubbed him, snatching the coat out of his grip with his teeth and then going around the corner of the barn to shift. Lance walked into the barn ahead of him, teeth chattering at the cool spring weather without his coat on. Keith was quick enough anyway, appearing in the doorway a second later and hesitating there.

“This is definitely when you’re gonna jump me and sell me on the black market, isn’t it?” He joked nervously, wrapping the coat tighter around himself. Lance couldn’t help but stop and stare, admiring how much smaller Keith really was in this form. He was absolutely dwarfed by the coat. 

“Nope, though I’m sure you’d fetch a pretty penny, I think you’re too valuable to let go.” Lance replied back just as lightly, walking over and linking his arm through Keith’s. He led him further into the barn, between the stalls until they reached one in particular. Lance opened the door and headed in, while Keith was once again left hesitating in the entryway. 

“Do I have to go in there? In this form?”

“Keith, she’s a cow. She won’t hurt you.” Lance deadpanned, the fear of Keith’s face hilariously plain tos see. Keith scowled deeper as he walked into the stall, looking entirely uncomfortable with the situation as he walked over to stand beside Lance. He more or less hid behind Lance’s shoulder as Lance interacted with his pet, scratching her behind the ear. 

“I’ve never really been around animals. They’re usually pretty terrified of me in my other form. And then in this form, I feel so much smaller than them.”

“This is Kaltenecker.” Lance explained, cupping the cow’s head between his hands. Keith was eyeing him like he was crazy for getting so up close and personal with another species. There was definitely irony there, considering Keith expected Lance to be totally comfortable around a dragon. Lance wasn’t gonna call him out on it right now, though. “She’s my favorite, don’t tell anyone else in here.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

“We sold her at one point to afford food, but when you gave us that hunk of gold we were able to buy her back.” Lance explained. “Personally, I think she’s a lot happier here than she was there. So, I just wanted you to see her and know how many ways you’ve helped us, I guess. It really means a lot, Keith.”

After that, Keith’s expression softened into something a little bit more understanding. He took a tentative step out from behind Lance, staring holes into Lance’s hand where it was patting the cow. Keith turned to him, biting his lip.

“Can I touch?”

“Go ahead.” Lance laughed, gesturing to the whole of the cow and taking a step back. He wanted to watch this, knew it was gonna be rich. Keith took a shaky step toward the cow, looking wary on all accounts as he ran his hand down her flank. He drew his hand back afterward, staring at it. “You’re a living, breathing, mythical creature and this is what impresses you?” 

“You said it yourself, I don’t leave the castle. Let me have this experience without shame, no matter how late it may be.” Keith’s voice was light though, like he understood the ridiculousness of the situation now.

“Alright, alright.” Lance held his hands up, dropping them back to his side. He sat down on the milking stool, leaning back and watching as Keith grew more confident with the situation. Eventually he was patting her with both hands, only flinching whenever her tail would flick or she’d let out a long low moo of contentment. “I think she likes you.”

“Yeah?” Keith asked, turning to Lance in surprise. He started to smile then, bright and awed, like he’d accomplished something unimaginably great. He leaned down next to the cow’s face, that unnervingly wide smile still plastered across his face, showing off all those inhumanly sharp teeth. He addressed the cow with a nod of his head. He spoke to the cow as if she was an old friend now, as if she could understand a word of what he was saying. “I like you too, Kaltenecker.”

There was just something so… Keith, about it. He was so adorably innocent, so amazed by the rest of the world. He wasn’t stupid by any means, but the negativity of the current society and royal affairs hadn’t spread to him up in the mountains. He was filled with childlike wonder and hope, and Lance found it contagious. 

It helped that he was so cute, smiling so wide and looking to Lance for guidance on what to do next. On how to_ address a cow _. It was too much. Lance was overwhelmed with the urge to wrap him up in his arms and hug him.

“You’re so…” Lance trailed off with a laugh, shaking his head. 

“What?”

“Weird.” Lance decided on, figuring it was considerably less damning than the first words to come to mind had been. Keith scoffed at him. “Totally weird.”

“I am not!”

“No one warned me that dragons are giant fucking dorks.” Lance continued anyway, getting to his feet. He grabbed Keith’s hand, gently leading him out of the stall because he was pretty sure he would have been happy to stay there all night now. “You want something to eat? You’re probably at least a little bit winded after tilling an entire garden, right?”

“Sure, if that’s what you want me to say.” Keith boasted, puffing his chest out. Lance elbowed him in the side, wincing when it caused him as much or more hurt than he’d been out to inflict. Keith was so muscular it was unfair. Even without his scales, there was no give to him, he was all rough lines and hard surfaces.

Lance led the way back to the house, the both of them slipping through the darkness uncovered, hands clasped tightly together. It occurred to Lance about halfway there what this would look like if anyone else were to catch them. Keith, naked save for his coat, clutching onto him as Lance snuck him around the farm, both of them giddy from being near each other. They looked like young lovers sneaking around together after dark. It… sort-of felt like they were too, in a way. The emotions weren’t that different.

And that was a road Lance wasn’t ready to go down yet. He didn’t want to think about it. Had never felt attracted to a boy before, and he definitely hadn’t felt attracted to a dragon before. It was a new uncharted territory, forgive him for fearing it, for pushing the thought of it to the darkest corners of his mind.

“Come on.” Lance held the door open for Keith, gesturing into the house. Keith stumbled in after him, looking around with his night vision no doubt. Lance stepped in beside him, kicking his barn shoes off on the welcome mat. “Coast is clear. They’re all asleep.”

“This is where you live?”

“Humble compared to a castle, huh?” Lance winked, leading the way into the kitchen. Keith followed quietly after him. He settled awkwardly at the table, looking entirely out of place in the small room, horns peeking out of his hair, tail wrapped meekly around the leg of the chair, wings folded in against himself under the jacket. Again, in the dark, he could almost pass as human. 

You know, aside from the fact his eyes gave off an eerie purple glow.

“You good with pancakes?”

“Cake?” Keith perked up, a smile brightening his features. Lance nodded, grabbing a spatula out of the holder and spinning it around on his finger a few times. “Mother’s only brought them back from the human market a handful of times, but I love them.”

“Yeah?” Lance mused. “You’ll probably like these then.”

Keith nodded in agreement, leaning across the table. He rested his head against his arms, idly watching Lance move around the kitchen. He was trying to be stealthy about it, given the fine line they were walking between exposing themselves and not, but Lance had always been the slightest bit clumsy. He kept waiting and listening closely for the sound of footsteps in the hallway, but it was unusually silent.

Lance made quick work of cooking the food, focused on the task as he was. It wasn’t long before he was piling the pancakes onto a nearby plate one by one, giving them the chance to cool off. He half expected Keith to creep over and steal a few of the cooling ones, but he never approached. Eventually, there wasn’t any room left on the plate to pile it any higher.

Lance turned on his heel.

“Okay, they’re looking about done now, so grab a plate and I’ll serve you up some-” His words died in his throat. There was no one sitting at the table. Keith was gone! His dragon that he was smuggling into the house had disappeared somewhere. There was no telling what kind of trouble he could have gotten himself into. “_ Keith _?”

Lance hurried down the hallway, looking into each of the rooms for any sign of his friend. Lance was just beginning to wonder if he was even still there when he turned the last corner of the hallway, to where the kids room was. Sure enough, there was Keith, standing uncomfortably in the doorway of their room.

Lance stepped closer, wary.

“Dude, I thought you took off without saying goodbye. You could’ve just told me you needed to use the bathroom and I would’ve pointed you in the right direction to-” Lance cut himself off with a pathetic squeak, eyes falling on the third party in the conversation. His niece was standing in front of Keith, looking up at him with suspicion. She looked like a mess, having rolled straight out of bed before this. Lance grit his teeth, prepared for the worst. “Nadia. What are you doing awake this late? You should be in bed.”

“I smelled food.” Nadia said simply. She looked back and forth between Keith and Lance a few times, oblivious to the way they were desperately holding their breaths and awaiting a reaction. Finally, she yawned and pushed past them to head into the kitchen. “Why does this guy have horns?”

“Uh…” Keith trailed off, very clearly terrified. Lance rose to the task.

“Because you’re dreaming.” Lance answered easily, matter-of-factly even. He’d lied to his siblings enough times that it came naturally to him, practically a second-nature. He darted ahead of her and directed her away from the kitchen, despite her protests. He reached up, rubbing his niece’s head and messing up her hair in all directions. She pouted up at him. “Duh.”

“No I’m not!”

“Yes you are!” Lance singsonged back, sticking his tongue out. “You’d better go back to bed and then when you _ really _ wake up breakfast will be waiting for you.”

“Will it be pancakes?”

“You bet.” Lance promised, kneeling in front of her. He opened his arms and she immediately pounced, diving into his arms and embracing the hug wholeheartedly. Her much smaller arms struggled to wrap around him to hug him back. 

“Goodnight, Tio Lance.” She sighed happily, breaking away from the hug as suddenly as she’d gone into it. Lance watched her whirl around and prance back toward her room, the horned boy forgotten just like that. She looked back over her shoulder, smiling at Lance. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Lance assured her, reaching up to close the door after her. He poked his head around it before it fully closed, smiling in at her. “Sweet dreams.”

Lance ducked out of the room after that, hurriedly closing the door again before she could get any new ideas about wandering out to the kitchen at night. He turned around with a relieved sigh, surprised that’d gone over so easily with her.

“Who is that?”

“Nadia. My sister’s kid.” Lance explained, turning around and throwing an arm around Keith’s shoulders. He held onto him a little bit tighter this time, making sure he wouldn’t disappear again as he led them back to the kitchen again. 

“She’s so little.” Keith said, sounding very amazed by the fact. “Tiny.”

“Ah, right, you’ve probably never met any babies either.” Lance reasoned with himself, deciding to entertain Keith’s fascination a little bit. He gestured for Keith to sit back at the table, continuing to chat as he served up Keith’s meal. “Yeah, she’s little. She’s too smart for her own good sometimes though, I’m surprised it was that easy to get her to go back to sleep and leave you alone. Did she bug you much before I got there?”

“She wanted me to have a tea party with her. I never got to.” 

“She won’t remember she asked in the first place by the time tomorrow comes, don’t worry too much.” 

“She looks like you, but little.”

“That’s generally how families work, yeah.” 

“I know that much!” Keith reminded him with a shove. “It’s just… she _ really _looks like you.”

“Whatever.” Lance rolled his eyes dismissively, picking up the towering plate of pancakes and bringing them back over to the table. He placed it in front of Keith, trying to ward off his own thrilled smile as Keith laid eyes on the gift. “Try this.”

Keith looked adorably wary as he used his fork to separate a bite, dark eyes frequently flickering back up to Lance’s in search of input. Eventually, he lifted the bite to his lips, making a mess of syrup across his chin in the process. He swiped at it with his hands as he chewed, and Lance got the unique privilege of seeing the way Keith’s eyes lit up the moment the flavor truly hit him.

“Mm!” Keith beamed, holding up his fork in the air. “It’s delicious!”

“You like it?”

“I love it!” Keith insisted, bordering on being too loud about it. Lance let it slide though, preening under the attention and all the accompanying compliments. Keith really was too good to him. Lance knew for a fact that his pancakes were mediocre at best compared to everyone else in the family.

He turned around, hiding his blush and the little personal smile that accompanied it. He busied himself by using up the rest of the batter to make some more pancakes. If Keith couldn’t eat them, then they’d be there for when his family woke up for breakfast.

And when Lance paused to glance back at Keith’s progress a minute later, his jaw dropped.

“Holy crap, I thought you weren’t that hungry?!” Lance gaped at the completely empty plate, that had held ten pancakes just a few short moments before. He watched as Keith shoved the last one into his mouth with a satisfied purr, chewing it down oblivious to Lance’s gaze being on him again. “You’re supposed to use the knife to cut it up… you don’t just fold it over and eat it in two bites.”

“Why not?” Keith swiped his sleeve across his face to clean it. Lance’s eye twitched.

“Nevermind.” Lance sighed, defeated. You can’t teach an old dragon new tricks. It was actually highly possible that the wariness from before had been because Keith had never in his life used a fork or any form of cutlery before… terrifying thought. Lance is really hanging out with a feral. “I’ll just make you more. I’ll even make some you can take home with you.”

“Really? I’d love that, Lance.” There he goes again, that incredibly soft and reverant voice, so very genuine in his amazement. Lance has never had someone be amazed by him, not once.

\--

“Ugh, we haven’t seen anything all day.” 

“Probably ‘cause your complaining is scaring everything away.” Marco grunted, giving his younger brother a playful shoulder check. Lance stumbled all the same though, scrawny compared to the solid wall of muscle that was Marco McClain. He caught himself on the trunk of a nearby tree, giving a deep all-embodied sigh. He wanted to go home.

“Ain’t that the truth. The kid never shuts up.” Another member of the hunting party laughed, high and cruel, the words a whole lot meaner now that they weren’t coming from his brother. Lance stared after the rest of the hunting party as they all walked ahead, leaving him and his two brothers in the dust. 

Even without looking, Lance knew that they were having some kind of argument over him.

“Seriously, Marco? That was uncalled for.”

“Oh, come on, Luis. You know we were all thinking it.”

“Yeah, but there’s a difference between poking fun at your little brother and continuing to ostracize him from our community.” Luis, bless his heart, was trying his best to do the right thing. He was the oldest of the family next to Veronica and had taken it upon himself to be the mediator for all their siblings from the very start. He’d just never been all that great about being discreet about it. “You know they all hate him already, don’t give them more reasons to.”

Lance winced, fingertips pressing into the bark of the tree harder, threatening to snap pieces off of it.

“I’m sorry.” Marco huffed out the apology like it’d been forced from his lungs. He didn’t even address Lance when he spoke it, he was still facing their other brother. Lance shrugged and nodded his head anyway though, letting him know that he’d been forgiven. He was right after all, everyone had surely been thinking it. Lance was nothing but dead weight when he came along on these hunting trips, but every now and then his mama would force him to go. Something about brotherly bonding time.

Marco hurried ahead to catch up with the rest of the party after that, leaving Luis and Lance standing alone. The silence was incredibly tense, as Lance repeatedly swallowed around the lump in his throat and willed away tears. That was just what he needed, to be branded a crybaby on top of everything else they called him.

Luis stepped closer, settling a very hesitant hand on his shoulder. 

“Lance, I’m sure we’ll find something soon. Just hold out a bit longer, we’re all hungry.” 

“Yeah.” Lance breathed, choking the word out. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was only the comment that Marco had made just now, but it’d been like this the whole day. From the very second he’d arrived, everyone had taken to shunning him, grouping up together and leaving him out. And as much as he appreciated Luis’ efforts to include him, he didn’t want his brother to suffer at his expense either.

People liked Luis and Marco well enough, they were still regarded as poor and unlikable as a whole, but at least they weren’t the selfish failed dragon sacrifice. The whole village despised Lance now and it hurt him to think that his existence was making life harder for his brothers. He didn’t blame Marco for running ahead, for not wanting to associate himself with his younger brother. It still hurt, though.

“You wanna come look down by the creek with us?” Luis asked, all forced niceties, kindness by the buckets. Lance shook his head, pointedly looking in the other direction as his traitorous eyes grew wet again. He blinked rapidly, reaching up to angrily scrub his face dry. 

“I’m good. I think I’ll stick around here.” Lance insisted. “Something might stumble by.”

“Okay. Holler if you need us.”

“Will do.” Lance lied through his teeth, knowing he wouldn’t reach out no matter how badly he needed help. He would take on a bear singlehandedly before he’d try to rejoin the group again. He was pretty sure he’d fare better against a vicious wild animal than his peers. At least an animal was just out to protect itself, to eat. The boys from Lance’s village were cruel, mean, out to inflict hurt just for the sake of hurting.

He wandered aimlessly through the woods, subconsciously headed back toward the farm. He didn’t realize this until he stepped out into a very familiar clearing, one he had vivid memories of spending time in as a child. Him and his older siblings would come here to play games, it was their own secret world, just out of sight from the farmhouse.

It was the pure childhood memories that maybe made it so very jarring to lay eyes on a massive pile of bodies in the center of the clearing.

“What the fuck?!” Lance screamed, stumbling backward and tripping over a root. He fell on his ass, ready to bolt back to his feet and take off. He’d never seen so many deer in one place, alive, so seeing this many dead was terrifying. Most of them had their throats slit, or heads almost entirely detached. It was almost like the words most massive eagle had swooped down on them from above and inflicted damage with its talons where it would hurt m-

As if on cue, Keith wandered out of the woods in his dragon form, dragging a limp stag between his teeth. Like a cat carrying a mouse back to its master, the look of smug satisfaction on the dragon’s face was undebatable. Lance gaped, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. Keith still hadn’t noticed him yet.

“Hey, buddy? What the fuck?” Lance called out to him, hands placed on his hips. The deer fell from Keith’s mouth with a thud, joining the others in their terrible fate. His head whipped around, eyes lighting up when they landed on Lance, sparkling amethyst in the midday sun. His tail thrashed back and forth in an excited wiggle, and then he pounced across the entire clearing in one smooth jump. 

Keith landed in front of Lance, licking his lips clean of blood. Lance averted his eyes, feeling incredibly nauseous. Sure, he’d known that Keith was a hunter, a natural born predator. He was just lucky enough to somehow not be on the food chain below him.

“Lance!” Keith lowered himself to the ground, shimmying closer and nudging Lance’s knees with his nose. Vying for attention in the plainest of ways. Lance reluctantly turned back to him, relieved to see no sign of gore anywhere on him. He sighed, placing a hand on Keith’s head, between his eyes. “See how many I caught?! How many humans could this feed?”

“A small army of a thousand, maybe?” Lance scoffed, shaking his head. “You caught all of these for us?”

“I heard you were hunting. I wanted to help.”

“I’m not even sure our entire town can eat this before it goes bad.” Lance mused aloud, eyeing the pile of discarded bodies thoughtfully. It was hard to imagine that they’d all met such a terrible fate at the hands of the beast currently rolling and writhing around in front of him, desperate for scratches across those jet black scales. “Did you slaughter the entire deer population?”

“No, I left plenty.” Keith huffed, sounding almost insulted by the assumption. “Dragons are pretty in tune with the natural ecosystem, we know exactly how much is too much in any given area. Their numbers are stable, don’t worry.”

“How did you even find me here?”

“Nadia told me.”

“You were at my house?!” Lance hissed out, yanking his hand back in shock. Keith lifted his head from where it’d been contently resting in the grass, eyes blinking a few times as he came back to the world of the living. He narrowed them then, confusion evident.

“Is that not okay?” Keith was audibly concerned, even inside of Lance’s head. Adorably enough, Lance couldn’t help but notice the way he stood, tail tucked between his legs. Now that Lance was comfortable enough to look for the cues, dragon body language wasn’t all that different from any other animal. Sure, Keith got away with hiding all of his blushes underneath his scales in this form, but Lance was getting to the point that he could read him in other ways. “You invited me in last time, I just thought-”

“No, Keith, I’m not mad.” Lance reassured him hurriedly. “Just surprised, that’s all. I thought we were keeping you a secret from everyone, including my family? They’re good people, but I don’t know if they’d understand. What happened?”

“I waited until Nadia was outside alone and I wore my hood up to hide my horns. None of the others even saw me. She thought I was a normal human! And she promised not to tell anyone I was there!”

“Lance? Who are you talking to?” A voice cut through the trees. Keith’s head bolted upright, long neck stretching out as he eyed the tree line, searching for the source of the noise. Lance recognized it as his brother right away, but Keith looked appropriately wary.

“First of all, that’s creepy, if Veronica saw a stranger on our property talking to her daughter she would kick the shit out of you without hesitation. Don’t do that again even though I know you had good intentions.” Lance paused, trying to figure out how to phrase it plainer. “You know how Krolia is with you? That’s how Veronica is with her babies.”

“Oh.” Keith shivered, reverting in on himself the slightest bit.

“Right?” Lance laughed, glad Keith was at least realizing the severity of the situation. He looked over his shoulder, to where the bushes were rapidly starting to rustle. He was sure Luis would stumble out any second, worried about him off on his own. Lance turned back to Keith, giving him a final pat atop the head, hand lingering for just a second. “Second of all, you need to hide.”

“Got it.”

“The giant pile of meat is suspicious enough without a dragon standing next to it.” Lance muttered to himself under his breath, slapping a hand to his forehead. Keith was gone in a flash, diving into the trees on the other side of the clearing, slithering around them effortlessly. 

Almost as soon as he was out of sight, Luis stumbled out of the bushes. His mouth was open, like he planned on shouting for Lance again, but it abruptly snapped shut when he saw what was directly in front of him. He yelped, a girlish squeal leaving his lips as he stumbled backward. He put some cautious space between himself and the bodies, tiptoeing around them.

“Hey Luis!” Lance called, drawing his attention. Luis all but ran to him then, all too eager to get some answers. Lance could only hope that he could bullshit some up for him. This wasn’t exactly an easy situation to explain. Still… he couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit flattered that Keith had gone through so much effort for him, without even being asked.

“Lance?” Luis asked, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Lance had never seen him look so confused in his entire life. “What the hell happened here?”

“I have a new strategy.” Lance said, giving a grand flourish toward the heap of dead things. “Traps. Homemade ones. I laid them out last night and I guess this must be a pretty popular spot for deer to travel through. I caught twelve of ‘em.”

“I don’t even know what to say.” Luis paused. “Good job?”

“Thanks.”

Just then, Marco came barging into the clearing the same way Luis had come from, with far less grace for the environment around him.

“Hey guys, we managed to nab a buck! He’s only a young one, but it should be enough meat to feed a couple families for-” Marco paused in his rant, coming to a stop so suddenly that he toppled right over into the pile of deer. Lance and Luis both cringed at the same time, sympathy overwhelming them. It was unnecessary though, given that Marco didn’t even look disturbed when he hopped back up. He just looked amazed, eyes wide and starry, smile unwavering on his face. “Who the hell caught all these?!”

Lance sighed. Luis shot him another confused look.

He was gonna have to tell his blatant lie of a story to the entire village, over and over again, all night.

Damn it.

\--

Four hours later and the deer had all been hauled back to the village. Celebrations were had, Lance was clapped on the back and shoulder more times than he could count, and then he was quick to sneak off at the very first opportunity. He’d dared to hope and sure enough, Keith had stayed in the forest waiting for him. 

He’d shifted back too, was wearing his hood from before.

“I see how I might have overdone it.” Keith admitted, a sheepish grin stretching across his features slowly but surely. Lance just gave him an exasperated look, trudging right past him and down the river bank, barely paying any mind to all the roots under foot. He’d been to this river so many times growing up to swim, it might as well have been a gravel path down.

Keith followed precariously behind him, much more cautious of toppling down the steep bank. He seemed clumsier on his human feet anyway, but that could have been due to the fact that he wasn’t wearing any shoes. Lance had thought to bring an extra set of clothes back for him, but the shoes part had completely slipped his mind. So instead, he hopped around, trying to keep up the conversation and concentrate on his feet at the same time somehow. “I just figured the more I caught the happier you would be. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

“I _ am _ happy.” Lance sighed, fondness creeping into his tone despite himself. He paused, giving Keith a chance to catch up to him and walk at his side. “It just makes it harder to believe I did it, that’s all.”

“How many do you usually catch?”

“None?” So his laugh sounded the slightest bit forced out, can anyone blame him? His lack of hunting prowess had never been a casual topic before, it always ended in him being berated. It felt weird to admit his shortcomings to Keith, even knowing he wouldn’t view them the same way as everyone else. He didn’t want Keith to think anything less of him. “I’m not a very good hunter. It was never really my thing, it always made me feel bad killing innocent animals. I guess I’m more of a lover.”

“Oh.” Keith bit his lip, deep in thought. “We eat primarily meat. The only time Krolia lets me leave the castle is to hunt with her. I thought that was how everyone bonded.”

“Not exactly, but it was a good effort. I see where you were coming from.” Lance offered, settling down on one of the large boulders that bracketed the sides of the river. He shucked his shoes off, throwing them off to the side and dipping his toes into the water. It was heating up now, nearly summer, and it was his favorite season for a reason.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Lance smiled over at him. Keith was settled precariously on a much smaller rock, clueless as to what he was meant to be doing here. He was upright and tense, back as straight as a board and legs tucked tightly beneath himself. There was nothing casual about this boy and yet Lance felt so very comfortable around him, at ease in a way he couldn’t be around anyone else. “It _ was _ kind-of sweet... in a really mass-murdery way.”

“It grossed you out, didn’t it?” Keith groaned, very obviously disappointed in himself. Lance looked longingly toward the water he’d been about to wade out into. Every part of himself was screaming to dive in and cool off, rinse his hands off after all the dead things he’d had to touch today. He steeled his nerves though, turning to Keith to have this conversation. Clearly it was deeper than it seemed.

“Keith, it’s not a big deal.” Lance tried, deciding almost immediately that that was the wrong thing to say when it didn’t even earn him a response. Keith simply shrugged his shoulders, avoiding eye contact. At that point Lance cursed himself, attempting to try again. “Unless it was a big deal to you?”

“I just wanna be useful.” Keith admitted, his voice quiet, shy. Lance paused where he’d been kicking his feet through the water, turning to shoot a puzzled look in his friend’s direction. But Keith still hadn’t looked his way again, was instead making quick work of carving out a pointed spear from a stick, long talons whittling away at the wood. 

“I’m not measuring your worth by how much you contribute to the farm, Keith.” Lance told him. Keith continued to mope. He scooted closer then, sliding onto the same rock Keith was sitting on and nudging his elbow into the other boy’s side. “I’m gonna keep you around either way, believe it or not. You’re kinda the best company I’ve got.”

“I _ like _helping you.”

“You are helping.” He argued, mouth curling into a scowl at the thought that Keith might think otherwise for even a second. Lance leaned his weight into Keith’s side, until Keith finally cracked a smile and started to shove back with his own strength. The back and forth fight aspect grew tired fast, and not long later they were just left there, sitting on the rock and leaning into each other. “I always feel better when you’re here. You don’t have to do anything special. Just show up, that’s all I’m asking for.”

Keith met his gaze now, dark eyes slowly sliding over until they locked with Lance’s again. They stared into each other’s eyes for a long passing moment. Slowly but surely, Lance got to witness firsthand as Keith’s concerns took a backseat to his trust that Lance was telling the truth. He relaxed, a blindingly bright smile unfolding across his face. His cheeks were tinted the perfect shade of pink and Lance’s mind was blissfully blank.

The only sound in the entire forest was the trickling river beneath them, and still it was nothing more than background noise to the beating of Lance’s pulse in his ears. His heart was racing, thudding against the inside of his chest so stubbornly it almost felt like it wanted bust its way out and fly away. 

“Yeah?” Keith asked finally, but it was clear by now that his doubts had been squashed.

“Yeah.” Lance confirmed with a nod. He quickly looked away, shaking himself out of his stupor. He leaned down, shoving his hands unceremoniously into the cool steady water, relieved to see how easily the red washed away from his skin. “Now, let me wash the blood off my hands? It’s starting to go crusty. This conversation needs to continue at another time.”

It was Keith’s own fault that it had to happen, really. Lance was only minding his own business, washing his hands off in the water, up until he decided to glance back over his shoulder. Sure enough, Keith was settled back, leaning his weight onto the palms of his hands behind him and… watching. He watched Lance with a hawk’s gaze, never leaving him, not even bashful when their eyes would meet.

Keith just kept fucking staring.

Lance felt awkward under the face of all that dedicated attention, like he was the most interesting thing within sight, at any given time. He shuffled, scrubbing at his hands with more force in hopes of finishing up faster. He kept glancing back though, he couldn’t help it, he needed to know. And sure enough, each time Keith’s eyes would still be fixed on him.

The next time Keith even smiled at him, not an ounce of shame in him. Maybe he didn’t have the common sense to realize staring was considered rude, or maybe he had more than enough sense to realize that what Lance was feeling right now was so very far from insulted. His face heated up even further and he looked away before he could return the smile.

“What?” Lance asked, as he sat back to dry his hands off on his pants. Keith squinted at him, lost to what the rest of the question was. To be fair, Lance wasn’t sure if he could use words to phrase it anyway. The question was all of the lingering stares and soft personal smiles combined. Lance wanted to put a label to them, to dissect what it all meant to both of them. But how could he expect Keith to know, if he wasn’t even sure about his own feelings?

“What?” Keith responded to his insightful question with another of his own. Lance groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance. He bent over to the water again, dipping his hand in and splashing a wave of it up onto the rocks. It hit Keith in light little droplets, but he was outraged all the same. “Hey!”

His tail flicked in annoyance behind him, smoke rolling out of his nose in an angry little burst. Lance thought it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. He tipped his head back, giggling uncontrollably.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Lance managed between wheezing laughter, grinning devilishly over at his friend. Keith was still fuming, sitting there wringing the water out of his borrowed trousers. He narrowed his eyes, shifting into a position to pounce. Lance realized a moment too late what was coming, as expected given how quickly Keith moved when he was on the hunt. “Wait, Keith! Stop! You’re gonna push us both into the-”

With no preamble, Keith launched himself through the air and tackled Lance back onto the rock. They rolled once and then the ground underneath them was simply gone, leaving them both to fall into the rushing water of the river with a splash.

Lance was quick to right himself, but Keith was more of a lost cause.

“Ah!” Keith screamed, louder than anything Lance had ever heard in his life. For a split second Keith’s head dipped below the water and he came up gasping for air like a man starved, hands flying out blindly and connecting with Lance’s chest in heavy punches. And, once he realized he was touching something solid, sharp claws digging in deep to try and hold on. Lance cried out, stumbling backward and nearly falling over as Keith attempted to scale him like a tree.

“Calm down, you’re clawing the shit out of my arms!” Lance yelled, juggling Keith’s weight around to try and keep them both upright.

“I’m gonna drown! Lance, I’m gonna drown! I can’t swim!” 

“You don’t need to swim, you giant baby, it’s only waist-deep!” Lance yelled back, hopefully loud enough that Keith would be able to hear it over his own antics. Keith paused then, wrenching his eyes open to look down at the water below them. There was still wariness all over his face, but he carefully put a foot back down into the water. Sure enough, even though Keith was a good foot shorter than Lance, the water only just covered his stomach.

“Oh.” Keith breathed, shoulders slumping in relief. Lance shook his head, holding a hand to one of the scratches that had dug deep enough to draw blood. For the most part, his shirt had taken the majority of the beating, practically frayed into pieces with the long claw marks that had sliced through the fabric.

“You can’t swim?”

“Most dragons can’t, it seems like a useless skill to something that can fly.”

“No such thing as a useless skill.” Lance argued, clambering out of the water and onto the same rock as before. It was immediately soaked, the water pouring off his clothes in buckets. He held his hands out for Keith, helping him up onto it as well. “Besides, swimming is fun. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”

“Humans are crazy.” There was a light little chuckle tacked on at the end though, a sort-of amused exasperation. “You guys are constantly risking your lives for the sake of enjoyment. The survival instincts have been bred out of you, I swear.”

“What’s the point of life without any fun?” Lance argued. “You should know all about that. Tell me this isn’t an improvement to spending all your days locked away in the castle? Come on. Maybe you were safer there, but you’re happier now that you know me, are you not?”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right. I _ am _the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“See? That’s exactly what I mean, there’s value in taking risks with-” Lance’s rant was cut off with a quiet little “oof”, the full weight of Keith hitting him in the chest again. This time they didn’t topple backward, Keith seemed to anticipate that and purposely rolled them in the opposite direction. He tackled Lance into the nearby grass, cuddling into his chest. “Oh, woah, hi.”

“Thank-you, Lance.” Keith said, making himself comfortable sat atop of Lance. He stared down at him, damp hair falling in his eyes, oversized wet shirt hanging off his body and showing off the slope of his collarbones and one whole shoulder. Lance blinked dumbly up at him, settling his head back against the ground because it was_ reeling _. “For showing me that there’s more to life than what I knew before.”

“Uh, yeah. For sure. No prob.” Lance said hurriedly, scrambling upright and gently shoving Keith off his lap. He got to his feet hurriedly, scrubbing his hands over his face. Damn it, damn it. Keith looked so rejected where he sat in the dirt, like he couldn’t wrap his head around Lance’s rush to remove himself from the situation. Lance couldn’t make sense of it either, but the pieces of the puzzle were starting to add up and he wasn’t sure if he liked the picture he was making.

He wouldn’t catch feelings for Keith. He couldn’t. There were so many reasons things wouldn’t work between them, the difference in _ species _ being a major one. 

But still, seeing that little hurt pout on Keith’s lips was more than Lance was equipped to handle, even someone with nerves made of steel couldn’t turn their back on that. He held a hand out, smiling warmly down at him. “Come on, I can get you dry clothes back at home.”

Keith lit up again just as easily as he’d deflated, grinning as he grabbed onto Lance’s hand and pulled himself onto his feet. He adjusted his hood then, lifting it above his head and settling it there, dark eyes peeking out underneath it. They met Lance’s, soft and amused.

“Are they showing?” The question didn’t need any elaboration, not when Lance could clearly see the tips of horns poking into the fabric. He gave a helpless sort of sigh, stepping closer and going about rearranging the hood in a way that might be slightly more believable. It didn’t help that the shirt was so wet, left literally nothing to the imagination. Which would be bad for Lance in itself with his current dilemma, but worse for both of them as it left Keith’s horns and wings more or less exposed.

“Geez, I hope this dries off some by the time we get back.” Lance mumbled under his breath, pulling back to admire his best effort. Well, as long as Keith kept his wings clutched tightly to his back, and no one looked too closely… it might work. “That’s the best we’re gonna get.”

It was only once Lance was done worrying over the possibility of Keith getting found out that he realized the other boy was standing impossibly still, eyes pressed tightly closed. For a second, Lance wondered if he’d nicked one of his horns with a nail or something, if maybe they were more sensitive than the average goat’s might be. But when Keith cracked an eye open, he didn’t look hurt or even irritated, he looked flustered.

“More.” He said simply, stepping into Lance’s space before giving any explanation. Lance all but yelped, stumbling backward but not quick enough to evade him. He ended up with Keith all but pressed to his chest, peeking up at him from behind the curtain of his bangs.

“What?” Lance asked helplessly, holding his hands up. Taking pity on him, Keith grabbed his wrist and lifted it, until Lance’s hand was settling in the mop of messy black hair atop his head. Right between his two horns. Keith pressed up into the touch. Lance gave a bemused chuckle. “You want me to scratch your head like a dog?”

“I’m not a dog!”

“Hey, hey, don’t get moody, I’ll do it!” Lance said hurriedly, before Keith took it as a rejection. He probably should have said no, especially when Keith started to grin something devious the moment he realized he was gonna get his way. But Lance didn’t have the heart to, so he just started scratching his head, running his fingers through Keith’s hair. Keith practically melted into the touch, a breathy content sigh tumbling past his lips. “You really like this, huh?”

“Yeah.” Keith mumbled, very clearly distracted. “S’nice. Warm.”

Slowly but surely, a foreign rumble of a noise made itself known. At first, Lance glanced around the trees for any sort of animal nearby that might be making the noise, almost similar to a growl really, but a little bit less heavy… it took him too long to realize that what he was hearing was a purr. Not unlike a house cat’s, just the much bigger equivalent of it. 

Lance leaned back, fingers still flexing against Keith’s scalp. He stared down at Keith’s chest curiously, unable to stop himself from asking. 

“Are you _ purring _?”

“No.” Keith said immediately, _ vehemently _, a total rejection of the mere idea. And then, quieter, a little bit embarrassed, his voice nervous, “... Yes.”

“Not a dog, just a big kitty, aren’t you?” Lance teased, using both hands now to ruffle Keith’s hair and cup his face between his hands. Keith cracked an eye open, glaring up at him. Lance’s thumb traced the line of his cheekbone unwarranted, a stray itch he couldn’t shake. Keith leaned into the touch all the same, that low vibration in his chest getting louder, his skin growing hot enough under Lance’s fingers that it almost edged on being burning.

“What happened to you being intimidated by me? How about we go back to that?”

“I don’t think we can anymore.” Lance said, voice incriminatingly obvious. There was so much more truth to the words than Lance dared to fully explore. Things were never going to be the same again, not after holding Keith like this, those soft smitten eyes looking up at him. “I know too much.”

“Damn it.”

\--

The weeks of summer soared by, one after the other, faster than Lance could ever remember time passing before. He spent all of his free time with Keith, more or less, and sometimes even when he was busy working Keith would show up and keep him company. They still met in secret, but they were growing progressively less worried about being discovered. 

They spent a lot of time in the forest, where no one was around anyway. Keith taught him how to hunt well enough that it actually earned him some respect from the other men in the village. Lance taught Keith how to swim, which was the most excruciatingly slow and painful experience he’d ever had but was totally worth it now that they could spend their days in the water together. 

They spent hours leaning into each other and talking. They talked about everything, Lance had never opened up to anyone the way he opened up to Keith. He told him about his fears, hopes, dreams. In turn, Keith shared the same insight about himself. It was amazing, it was the kind of friend Lance had wanted his entire life.

Which is exactly why it frustrated him so much that he wasn’t_ satisfied _with it. He grew progressively less satisfied the more he learned, the better he knew Keith. Not because he didn’t value what they had, but because he’d decided he wanted so much more. 

Well, it wasn’t really his decision to make, it just sort-of happened. Whenever Keith opened up about himself, or when he smiled that lopsided little smile, or when they cut it particularly close to getting caught and they took off together laughing and clutching each other in relief... it all added up. Each moment together was like a tangible weight atop the growing pile, weighing Lance’s heart down further and further. It had gotten to the point that it was impossible to ignore, his heart felt ten sizes too big for his chest whenever he was around Keith.

Yeah, yeah, Lance was an idiot. Lance was maybe the only idiot in history who had fallen in love with a dragon. Summer was coming to an end and Lance’s days of denial weren’t far behind. 

\--

“Come on, Keith! Hurry up! I’ve seen you do it way faster than this!” Lance shouted, hands cupped around his mouth. He ran through the field, head tipped back to watch as Keith soared through the sky above him, long wings spread in a glide. He wasn’t nearly as high up as he usually was, purposely low to the ground as he attempted to herd the sheep in to the barn. Truth be told, he was doing this a hundred times faster than Lance ever could on his own. Lance was just impatient, vibrating with energy. It was his favorite day of the year, and he was excited to share it with Keith. 

“They’re not nearly as afraid of me as they used to be. They don’t listen anymore. Sheep are so stubborn, Lance. I like the cows better.” Keith’s voice echoed in his mind, sounding exasperated. He landed with a thud, attempted to charge at the sheep and scare them into the barn that way. Lance laughed, running over to stand beside him. He grabbed a couple of the most stubborn ones, all but dragging them back to the bulk of the herd.

“Fine, fine. I’ll help.” Lance muttered, wiping the sweat off his brow as he set to work. Between the two of them, they managed to get everyone back into the barn. 

The thing was, Keith didn’t really understand all of Lance’s excitement for the night. He was going along with it, trying to match the enthusiasm despite his confusion, but he had the spirit. It was something that was hard to explain to someone that had never been there before. The harvest festival happened every single year, on the cusp of summer and fall, as everyone was collecting the produce from their gardens. 

Everyone was in good spirits, the last big celebration before the hard winter ahead. There was music, dancing, so much food that it was almost obscene. Back when Lance’s family had been struggling terribly with money, the harvest festival was the only place they ever got the chance to eat so good. They were doing better now thanks to Keith’s help, and this year they would even be able to bring their own produce and animals to show off in the festival.

And Lance figured that Keith deserved just as much credit for that as the rest of his family.

“Alright, I smuggled this out to the barn earlier. What do you think?” Lance said, digging around behind the boxes of empty milk bottles. He grinned as he tugged the clothes out, turning around to where the dragon was resting with its head in the doorway. Keith perked up, seeing the new outfit.

Lance had taken a small piece of gold from the pile they were still working their way through from that very first time Keith had given them a supply. He’d gone out to the local tailor and he’d had an outfit made specifically for Keith. It wouldn’t fit perfectly, it wasn’t like Keith could waltz into the tailor’s shop and undress for measurements, but Lance had taken into account all of his dragon characteristics and guessed his sizes to the best of his ability.

“For me?” Keith asked, nosing the fabric with a curious sniff. Lance nodded eagerly.

“Go get changed in the woods. I wanna see how it fits.”

“You didn’t have to buy me something, I could have just worn your clothes.” Keith grumbled, but he took the outfit between his teeth all the same and wandered off into the trees. Lance waited impatiently in the door of the barn, excitement coursing through him. 

Keith came back in his human form, a smile on his face. He pointed down to the shoes with a grin, so used to walking barefoot everywhere. Lance pushed off from the wall and met him halfway, walking around him in a quick circle to check it out from all angles.

“You can’t even tell there’s anything inhuman about you, other than the eyes and the scales on your cheeks, and the hood will hide those in the dark.” Lance was grinning, wide and unabashed. He gathered Keith into a hug. The cape was a perfect idea, it draped low enough to cover any glimpses of wings or tail that anyone might have gotten with a jacket. “You’ll blend right in.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, absolutely.” Lance pulled back, looking Keith in the eye. “Are you excited?”

“Nervous, mostly.” Keith admitted, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ve never been around that many people.”

“I’ll hold onto you the whole night, don’t worry. We won’t get separated.” 

“Are you kidding me? If you think I’d let you out of my sight for even a second, you’re crazy.”

“God, imagine what Krolia would do if she knew you were gonna go to a festival with humans.” Lance joked, shaking his head in thought. Keith started to laugh a little incredulously at that. It was rather mind-boggling to think about, the fact that even as they grew more comfortable with each other that risk was still looming over their heads if they were ever found out. Lance hardly caught himself worrying about it these days, his logic was that if Krolia was gonna sniff him out it would have happened by now. 

Besides, he hardly ever traveled to see Keith at his castle now. Usually Keith flies to him, so even if Keith was caught missing from the castle she would never have to know about where he was, and who he was with. It wasn’t that big of a deal anymore, or maybe Lance had just gone out of his way to justify spending time with Keith and taking that risk however he could.

Regardless, he wasn’t worried. 

“If I’d never met you, I never would have done any of this stuff in my entire lifetime, you know that?”

“Was I the best sacrifice you ever received or what?”

“Shut-up!”

“Come on, I’ll sneak you into my room. I still have to get dressed.” Lance grabbed Keith’s hand, tugging him along through the fields. He knew where all of his siblings would be hard at work harvesting for the night ahead, so he took a few detours around the property to avoid them. Even though Keith looked mostly human now, there was still a risk that came along with introducing him to people Lance knew. Strangers was easier, better. They’d forget about him after tonight. 

Lance hoisted open the window to his bedroom, relieved to see his brother had already vacated. He tumbled in first, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Keith followed after him, with admittedly more grace in his landing. Bastard with good reflexes. 

“Your room is a mess.” Keith pointed out, social skills as shining as ever. Lance rolled his eyes, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it haphazardly to the floor, amidst the rest of the mess. 

“Our whole house is a mess, we’ve been scrambling to get ready for the festival.” Lance defended himself halfheartedly, even knowing full well that this mess had been present for weeks now. What did Keith know anyway? He’d only been in this room a couple of times in all the time they’d known each other. 

“It’s really that big of a deal?” Keith mused, lying back in Lance’s bed. 

“Everyone is so excited, Keith. It’s always a big deal, but my family has never been able to contribute this much before. It’s something really special.” 

“I’m glad.” Keith sighed warmly, rolling over onto his stomach. He watched Lance idly, gaze unblinking and heavy. It was to the point that Lance had more or less gotten used to Keith’s staring, if he was being honest. There wasn’t a moment they were together that Keith wasn’t focused on him, so wholly and truly invested in him, attention drawn in like a moth to a flame. It was oddly flattering as much as it was unnerving. He still wasn’t sure what Keith thought about as he stared, wondered if he even realized he was doing it.

Anyway, right now he needed to _ stop _. Lance’s fingers were toying with the waistband of his trousers, ready to change into his other outfit at any second, just as soon as Keith took the hint and looked away from him. Keith wasn’t exactly one for taken unspoken queues, though. When Lance raised his eyebrows expectantly, Keith just smiled dumbly back at him.

“Turn around!” Lance hissed out finally, making an impatient hand gesture. Keith blinked, looking confused, like he couldn’t comprehend why this was any different than any other time Lance was in a state of undress around him. To be fair, maybe it shouldn’t have been different. They swam together in their boxers, and Lance had caught more than his fair share of eyefuls when Keith transformed back to human and was left naked before throwing something on to cover himself. It just… felt different. Now that he’d realized his feelings, now that Keith was lying in his bed and watching him, the two of them alone in his bedroom.

He made a quick excuse, blushing down to the tips of his toes.

“I wanna do a big reveal.”

“Fine.” Keith grumbled a bit as he was forced to turn around, like it was a totally unreasonable request to make that he should have to look away from Lance for even a second. Lance made quick work of stumbling out of the rest of his outfit and grabbing the new one out of the closet. This time he only gave himself a few seconds to marvel at the feeling of soft new fabric against his fingers before forcing himself to finish getting dressed. It’d just been so long since he’d had anything new, he’d forgotten what it was like. 

As he was doing up the last of his buttons on the collar of his shirt, he nervously eyed the back of Keith’s head. He was staring out the window, giving Lance plenty of time to approach him from behind. Lance reached out, steeling his nerves as he poked Keith on the shoulder.

“Okay, you can look.” Lance said, hurriedly taking a step backward so Keith would get the full outfit in his line of sight. Keith turned around like he’d been just waiting, impatient as ever. Lance did a nervous little flourish, gesturing to the whole of himself. “What do you think? I based it off the clothes I saw in your closet, the ones that used to belong to the royal family. I wanted to look like a prince for a night, see what it’d be like.”

“Wow.”

“Wow? Is that all you’ve got to say?” Lance chuckled, feeling so very tense. He was kind of hoping that Keith would offer him a little bit more than that to go off of, some form of reassurance that he hadn’t gone too over the top with this outfit. It was certainly unlike anything he’d ever worn before. But Keith didn’t offer anything else in terms of a reaction, just shuffled across the bed to sit on the side closer to Lance, his eyes following the line of his body up and down. Riveted.

Lance gulped. “All I need is the crown, right?”

“I’ll bring you one.”

“Shut-up, no you won’t.”

“I will.” 

“You’d have to fly all the way home, the festival’s starting just after dinner. I’d rather you stayed here and spent more time with me.” Lance said it with a sense of finality, stepping close to Keith and placing his hands on the other boy’s shoulders, giving him a playful shove. Despite the lack of force, Keith fell backwards into the mattress just the same. He stayed that way, only bothering to prop himself up on his elbows so he could continue to stare up at Lance. “_ What _? If you’ve got something to say about the outfit just say it. Don’t go all brooding and quiet on me now.”

“I think I understand all the folk stories you told me about dragons stealing princesses away.”

“Keith!”

“You shine brighter than anything in my whole hoard.” Keith continued, utterly ignoring the outrage in Lance’s voice. He sat back up, leaning forward before Lance could hope to dodge out of his reach. He threw his arms around Lance’s midsection, pulling him in for a hug. Given that Keith was sitting, he ended up just shoving his face into Lance’s chest and holding it there. Lance stared down at him, face aflame and tongue tied into knots. Quietly, muffled by his shirt, he heard Keith mumbling. “I’ve never wanted to call anything mine this badly.”

“You’re ridiculous!” Lance laughed, high and forced, gently trying to pry Keith’s hold off of him. He felt too obvious all of the sudden, like Keith could hear the way his heart was pattering away like a hummingbird in his chest, or maybe see the blush boiling beneath his skin. He wanted to get away, hide himself away from the moment. But Keith’s hold was determined, wrapped tight around him and showing no sign of going anywhere. “That is the weirdest compliment anyone has ever given me, I hope you know that.”

“But I meant it.”

“I know you did, you weirdo.” Lance sighed, relenting finally. He shrugged his shoulders, wrapping his arms around Keith’s in a loose hold. He stroked his hand through Keith’s hair, pushing it back from his face and tucking it away beneath the hood. Keith leaned into the touch, eyelids fluttering shut and a smile spreading across his lips. “Look at you, you drink up the attention. So needy.”

Keith didn’t even try to protest, just reached for his hand and brought it down to cup his face instead. He nuzzled into Lance’s palm, a low purr starting up like an engine in his chest. Lance grinned, pressing his thumb into Keith’s dimple, stretching his smile out even further. It was almost comical, the first peak of those pearly white sharp as razors fangs from beneath red lips. Fangs capable of ripping through flesh and here the beast was, cuddling up to him like its life depended on it. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it sometimes. Like now.

You know, belonging to Keith hardly sounded so bad. He was sure Keith would take such good care of him, value him so much more than anyone else could. 

“Lance, clean yourself up, dinner will be ready in just a couple-” Lance’s mother barged into the door, carrying an armful of clothing, no doubt festival outfits for her grandkids if the bright dress was anything to go by. She paused when she actually realized what she was looking at though, going so stone still that she almost looked statuesque. Lance gulped, clambering away from Keith.

“Hi.” He squeaked, feeling indescribably terrified for her reaction. She didn’t say anything at all to him, hardly looked at him. She was looking somewhere else, trying to catch another glimpse at Keith. She wasn’t having much luck though, as far as Lance could tell. Keith was huddled behind him, breath coming in panicked little huffs.

“Who’s your friend?” She asked finally, her tone undoubtedly suspicious. There was a smirk curling at her lips too, something devious with unspoken implications. Lance silently cursed his luck. He could only imagine what kind of position it’d looked like when she first walked in and he was hardly doing his best effort of smooth-talking himself out of it.

“_ Mama _.”

“Sneaking boys into the house, are we?” She mused, a hand landing on her hip. 

“It’s not what it looks like.” 

“Then why’s he being so shy about it, hm?” She asked, eyebrows raised. She gestured to where Keith was hiding behind him, not even making an attempt to appear like a normal human being. “Is it serious? Should I interrogate him about his intentions with my son?”

“No!” Lance said, maybe with a bit too much urgency. He groaned, backtracking. “He’s just a friend.”

“Hm, okay.” She didn’t seem convinced. “Is your friend staying for dinner?”

Lance paused to think about the invitation, deciding for himself what he felt before even posing the question to Keith. He decided that he didn’t mind the idea of Keith meeting his family quite as much as he’d liked to believe before this moment. He’d always just been so worried about what would happen if they were found out and it wasn’t on their own terms, what the risks of Keith being a dragon really were. He just didn’t want Keith to get hurt, more than anything. Maybe it was a stupid fear to think his family would react badly, but it was a paralyzing one nonetheless. 

But now that he was standing here, his mother giving him that exasperated fond smile, like he’d been caught with his hand literally in the cookie jar and still refused to admit to it. He started to grin to himself, biting his lip to ward it off. No, the problem had never been sharing this part of his life with his family. He was proud to know Keith, and he knew they would approve of him too. 

He turned, looking back at Keith over his shoulder. Keith who was cowering behind his back, looking more spooked than Lance had ever seen him, even that very first day he’d come to the castle. He reached back, placing a hand atop Keith’s head, trying to comfort him.

“Do you want to stay?” Lance asked, so incredibly gentle, voice barely more than a whisper. Keith blinked owlishly up at him, as if he was struggling to comprehend what was being asked. Lance smiled at him, soft and understanding regardless of what his answer ended up being. “The cat’s kinda out of the bag now. If one knows, they’ll all know by the end of the night.”

“Sure.” Keith said, trying to mirror Lance’s positive expression. The smile was a little bit wobbly and definitely uncertain, but it was enthusiastic. It was clear that Keith was totally trusting Lance to know what was best in this situation, going in blind because he thought it was the answer Lance wanted to hear. And maybe it was a conversation for another time, Keith needing to set his own boundaries separate to Lance, but it was impossible to ignore how special that made Lance feel. Keith really trusted him with his life, didn’t he?

Lance turned back to his mama, smiling curtly at her. He was ready to negotiate. If this was going to happen, it was going to happen on his own terms. He wasn’t going to lead Keith’s into harm’s way in any shape or form. And if his mama wanted to meet his new “friend” (which it was so very obvious that she would give anything to be able to), then she would have to accommodate for Lance’s ground rules.

“He’ll stay, but only if you promise that Rachel won’t interrogate him the whole meal. I know she’ll try, Mama, I’ve seen how she was when Marco and Luis brought home…” Lance trailed off, realizing too late what he was implying. Keith wasn’t really comparable to Marco and Luis bringing home their first girlfriends, it wasn’t like that. Or at least, he didn’t want his Mama to think it was like that.

But she smiled all the same, a twinkle in her eyes.

“Friends?”

“Yeah, friends.” Lance agreed, nodding his head quickly. He desperately tried to think of anything else she might need to know, anything important. “And Keith likes meat, way more than vegetables. So, if we have any leftovers at all after everyone gets their share, then it goes to his plate.”

“Alright.” She laughed, voice filled with mirth. “Anything else, your highness?”

“You have to let him wear his hood up at the dinner table. I know it’s a respect thing, but for him it’s a personal thing. He needs to keep his hood on.”

“Okay.” She said, excitement beginning to shine through the cracks in her cool composure. She hugged the clothes she was carrying to her chest, casting a dazzling smile back at him. “I’ll set a plate for him.”

“Yep.” Lance nodded in agreement. She ducked back out of the room then, closing the door behind herself to give them their privacy back. It was almost hilarious, how both Keith and Lance let out matching relieved sighs at her departure. 

He fell back against the mattress, bouncing as his back hit it.

“Lance.” Keith asked, leaning over him and staring curiously down at him. He was fiddling with a stray strand of hair that had fallen in his face, twirling it around his finger and pushing it repeatedly back with the rest. It kept reappearing. Lance smiled up at him. “What if they realize what I am?”

“You can pass for a human in this outfit, you don’t need to worry.”

“You think?” Keith was appropriately skeptical. “What about my eyes? And the scales?”

“Your eyes are a little weird, but I’ll just tell them you’re from a foreign island. They’ll eat that up.” Lance scratched at his chin, thinking it through. He realized too late that he’d offended Keith by the words, that he was self-consciously glancing at himself in the nearby mirror. Lance rushed to explain. “Not weird in a bad way! Just in a not-so-human way. I think they’re cool, personally.”

“Oh.” Keith grinned dumbly, obviously happy for the clarification. “Thanks.”

“And I’ll steal some of Ronnie’s makeup for the scales, that’ll cover it up.”

“Do you think your mother saw it?”

“Are you kidding me? I don’t think she saw a thing, you were so busy hiding in my shoulder.” Lance teased him, even as he reached for his hand. Keith met him halfway without a shred of hesitation, winding their fingers carefully together, until the tips of his talons were resting on the backs of Lance’s knuckles. Lance squeezed their interlocked fingers even closer.

“I was nervous.” Keith admitted. “I still am.”

“Don’t be, they’ll love you right from the start.” Lance dismissed his concerns, sitting up and leaning into Keith’s side. He rested his head on the dragon’s shoulder, staring down at their hands, pale skin and the shine of scales, wrapped up in tan. He looked up, saddened to see that Keith still looked terrified in his own right, eyes blown wide with fear. “Really, Keith. It’s gonna be fine.”

Keith turned to look at him. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, seemingly debating his next words with a carefulness that just wasn’t Keith. He was usually impulsive with the things he said, everything he said completely genuine because of that trait. Now, he seemed hesitant.

“Did _ you _ love me right from the start?”

And wow, what a loaded fucking question that was.

“I-” Lance paused, face scrunching up into something frustrated with himself. He was floundering, thrashing around in confusion like a fish out of water. This was all so new to him and it felt simply impossible to navigate it and come out of intact. He decided on dodging the question, didn’t know if there was any other option. “You were kind of threatening to kill me a lot at the start.”

“But once I stopped doing that?” Keith pressed, and this time it was him to squeeze their hands.

“I don’t really know if-” Lance stuttered out, trying to put space between them because suddenly the closeness was suffocating. But Keith simply followed him, leaning after him, right into his space. Keith was smiling so wide and expectant, like he already knew the answer before Lance had even begun to untangle the web of mixed feelings in his head.

“Well?”

Alright. Fuck it. Fine. Maybe Keith knew him better than he knew himself at this point.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course I did. Why do you think my dumbass risked my life to see you again?” The words rushed past Lance’s lips impulsively, but he didn’t regret a word of them. He found them to be the truth almost immediately. In his own way, he’d absolutely fallen for Keith from the start. He was intrigued and mesmerized, and from the very start he’d forgone common sense just to know more. That was love in it’s own right. Er, maybe it wasn’t the same kind of love he was experiencing now, but it was something.

“I’m really glad your ass is so dumb, Lance.” Keith joked, one of those rare moments where he attempted humor and the punchline was so nonexistent it was landed shy of funny and hit right down in adorable territory. Lance loved those moments, but right now he was too flustered to truly appreciate it.

“Yeah, don’t mention it, I’m sure it’ll keep being dumb for the foreseeable future.” Lance choked out, scrambling to his feet and tugging their hands apart. He stuffed his hands deep, deep into his pockets instead and walked backward out of the room. Unable to look away from Keith, but certainly unable to look him in the eye too. “I’m gonna, er, go grab the makeup.”

“I’ll be here.” Keith promised.

Lance locked himself in Veronica’s room, deciding the risk of her coming back and murdering him on the spot for trespassing was so much safer than the risk of walking back into his bedroom where Keith was. 

Eventually, he pulled himself together enough to head back.

“There we go.” Lance admired his work, deciding that Keith’s face was definitely more than a few shades darker than when he’d started. Whatever, the alternative was being found out as a dragon, so Keith would have to forgive him for this not being his strong suit. “Boring and human through and through.”

“You think so?” Keith walked over to the mirror, analyzing his reflection closely. Lance moved to follow him over, jumping when someone knocked on the door.

“Dumbass, food is ready. Be at the table in ten seconds or I’m taking the extra steak she set aside for your boyfriend.”

“He’s not-” But Rachel was already walking away, her footsteps echoing through the small house. Rather than wasting his breath, Lance turned back to Keith. “You ready to meet the McClain clan?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

In all honesty, that was about the level of confidence that Lance had been expecting. He gave a quick laugh, pulling Keith into a sideways embrace, patting him on the back. Even without words, Keith relaxed against him, his short panicked breaths evening out to something more steeled.

Lance readjusted his hood one last time, worrying his bottom lip the slightest bit as he did.

And then, they headed out of the room together. The kitchen was only really a few short steps down the hallway, and the table even closer than that. There really wasn’t much time to prepare before they were there, standing in front of the whole of Lance’s family as they ate their meals. They hadn’t even waited for them, rude!

“Hey everyone, this is Keith.” Lance said, caught between trying to appear intensely casual in case his mama had given everyone the wrong idea, or trying to comfort Keith with his touch. He ended up putting space between them, shoving his hands into his pockets instead. That was the wrong decision. In the time it took everyone else to look up from their meals, Keith was nothing but a retreating blur. Lance watched him go, sympathy running through him. “That _ was _ Keith.”

“Is he okay?”

“Just nervous around new people.” Lance told them, flashing a smile to the whole of the family. He turned around and headed back to where he came from now, determined to right his original mistake and stick closer to Keith next time. Granted he could convince Keith to try a next time. “I’ll be right back.”

He found Keith back on his bed, even huddled under the blankets this time. Lance sighed gently, crossing the room in silence and settling on the edge of the bed. He ducked under the blankets, cuddling up against Keith’s back where he was curled into a tight ball. His wings twitched and fluttered under the pressure, constricted as they already were under the cape.

“There’s so many of them!” Keith spoke up unprompted, a slight tremble in his voice. He turned around and suddenly Lance regretted cuddling up to him so close. Keith’s face was mere inches from his as he continued speaking, gaining more confidence as he went. “Lance, I’ve barely even been around one person, let alone ten at once!”

“I should have given you more warning, huh?” Lance chuckled sheepishly, trying to put space between them again. It was no use really, by this point he knew better than anyone that dragons were affectionate little bastards, or at least Keith was. Keith followed after him, snuggling comfortably into his chest. Lance huffed out a little laugh, placing a hand in his hair. “I think they liked the little bit of you they did see.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.” Keith mumbled. “I totally botched that introduction, didn’t I?”

“Nah, you can make up for it.” Lance promised him, raking his fingers through his hair. It was surprisingly soft and well-groomed today, not a single tangle. Lance wondered absently if Keith had put extra effort into his appearance for the festival. That thought was just too cute to entertain, so he made quick work of distracting himself. “Do you wanna try again?” 

“Yeah.” 

Lance could tell that his mother had specifically told everyone to be on their best behavior. Not a single soul teased Keith when they came back to the table, they barely even looked up as the two of them sat down at their respective places, side-by-side. Lance immediately picked up his fork, ready to go to town.

“Your food’s getting cold, little brother.” Rachel pointed out, taking a hearty bite out of her steak. She didn’t even bother to cut it first, just tore her teeth into it like some kind of animal. Lance glowered at her from across the table. “I’ll take it off your hands if you’d like.”

“I’m younger than you by like a minute, screw off.” Lance sneered at her. She stuck her tongue out back at him. Lance turned to Keith then, ignoring her antics entirely. He reached down, setting a hand on Keith’s thigh, out of sight. He rubbed over it soothingly, up and down, from his knee to his hip. Keith remembered to breath then, at least. 

Lance leaned into his space. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Keith responded, struggling around the single word. Lance nodded down at the meal in front of him, eyebrows raising. Keith hadn’t even touched it yet, was only nervously twirling the fork around in his grip as a distraction from his thoughts.

“You should probably start eating before someone steals your plate.”

“I call dibs.” Rachel announced, because of course she did. Lance turned to her, ready to add more fuel to the fire of their ongoing sibling rivalry. 

“So, how did you two meet?” Veronica asked pointedly, interrupting them both before they could even start to get into it. Lance cast her a thankful smile, taking a quick sip of his water. Keith mirrored him, adorably out of his element and just looking for any guidance he could find.

“Just at the tavern.” Lance said, glancing over at Keith to find him already staring back. He was wide-eyed and invested, like he’d never heard the story of their own meeting before. Well, he hadn’t heard this story because Lance was totally bullshitting it as he went, but Keith wasn’t exactly making it believable to stare at him like that. “He’s from a family of traveling merchants. They’re not here for long, sadly.”

“So, you’ve been all sorts of places?” Marco asked, addressing Keith directly. It might have been something in that gruff tone, but when Keith’s mouth opened to respond nothing came out but a pathetic croak. Lance hid his smile behind his free hand, the other one still holding Keith’s knee.

“Have you seen the ocean?!” Sylvio shouted suddenly, hands slamming down against the table loud enough to rattle the glasses. Every adult there cast him a reprimanding look, but he was beyond that point already. The second the ocean came up, he was off like a light. All of Lance’s older siblings and his mama constantly compared him to a younger version of Lance.

“Uh, y-yes?” Keith managed to respond, shaking himself out of his stupor. It was probably easier to address a child than anyone else there. “Yeah, I have. It’s beautiful.”

There was a sort-of stunned silence around the table at the answer. No one had expected Keith to respond with a “yes”, not even Lance himself could have predicted that. As far as he knew, Keith had spent all of his years locked in the castle and only knew what Lance had shown him outside of that. He had no reason to lie about it though, and Keith was smiling like he was glad to finally have something he could cling to conversation wise, so it must have been the truth.

Lance wondered if he’d gone with Krolia, or if he’d snuck out alone one day to make the journey.

It was impossible to miss the hushed whispers around the table after that, as everyone discussed what it meant that Keith had seen the ocean. Even for a traveling merchant, it was unheard of to travel such far distances without a considerable caravan, and even then crossing the lowlands was a risk not worth taking most times. Keith was either incredibly stupid, or incredibly wealthy. 

Lance could see the gears turning in his mother’s mind, in particular. She was piecing it together, associating a face with all the mysterious gold Lance had brought home months ago. Damn.

“Will you take _ me _ to see it?!”

“Sylvio, calm down.” Luis said, his voice firm as he tried to curb the child’s enthusiasm. Keith did look more than a little bit overwhelmed with the sudden excitement, Lance couldn’t blame anyone for trying to take it easy on him. “Focus on your food and stop interrogating the poor guy. I’m sure he has it hard enough being Lance’s friend.”

“Rude!”

“Next thing we know he’ll be running away from home to become a traveling merchant, just so he can fulfill his lifelong dream of seeing the ocean.” Lance’s mama spoke up, casting her eyes over at him. She gave that knowing smile, like she had already fully convinced herself that it was the truth. Lance paled.

“Take me with you!”

“I’m not running away with Keith, guys.” Lance said hurriedly, blushing from head to toe. Everyone around the table responded with almost identical looks of skepticism, eyes flickering between the two of them together as if that was the counter argument to make. Now that Lance was paying attention, at some point Keith had started to lean into his shoulder in his nervousness, seeking out that warmth and comfort. Lance groaned, scowling as he went back to eating his meal.

He only made it a few bites in when the least quiet whisper ever graced his right ear, Keith’s hand gripping the collar of his shirt to draw him in closer. Lance went willingly anyway.

“You never told me you wanted to see the ocean.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, really. It’s more like a joke at this point.” Lance looked away, using his fork to stir his food around his plate. It was sort-of a touchy topic, in its own regard. It was always something he had shared with his father, they’d always talked about going to see the ocean together. His father had promised him that they’d go, just as soon as he came back from the war. It was their thing. Their shared thing. No one else’s. Now Lance held only bitterness toward the concept as a whole. “I had a total fascination with it as a kid, but I’ve given up on it now. We’re pretty far inland and I’d never be able to afford the trip.”

“I’ll take you.”

“No, you won’t.” Lance’s voice went impossibly high.

“Yeah, I will.” Keith insisted, looking almost offended that Lance would doubt him on this. In a flash of movement, before Lance fully had time to comprehend what was happening, Keith’s hand was cupping the side of his face and pulling him closer. Lance yelped, eyes blown wide. For a very, very terrifying moment he thought Keith was about to drag that pointed tongue over him again, the affectionate gesture that he didn’t fucking want. 

Instead, Keith pressed their foreheads together, exhaling a burning hot breath across Lance’s lips. His smile was kind, nothing but kind, friendly even. And still Lance’s stomach did flips, limbs turning to jelly, unable to push him away even with all the pairs of eyes on them. 

“If it's important to you, I want you to be able to see it. You deserve it.”

“Keith!” Lance gave up, a helpless squeal wrenching its way out of him. He hid his face behind both hands, not even wanting to look because he already knew exactly what kind of smug expressions would be staring back at him, from all around the table. Keith was so painfully… obvious. They weren’t even dating, there was nothing to be obvious about! And still, it felt like something condemning to have Keith talk to him like that, with such genuine care. “You can’t just say stuff like that!”

“Why not?” Keith asked, adorably lost because he’d always been able to say stuff like that before. Even encouraged, at times, because Lance loved to feel appreciated and Keith seemed to love appreciating him. It was a win-win. Usually. When Lance’s family weren’t examining their relationship so closely.

Worse than anything else, it forced Lance to examine their relationship too. See just how far of a stretch it was to believe they were just friends. 

“You just… can’t.” 

“_ Not boyfriends my ass _.” Rachel said under her breath, still loud enough for the whole fucking room to hear it. Lance picked up a forkful of mashed potatoes, fully prepared to launch them at her. Lance caught his mother’s eye from across the table though, pouting slightly as he cowered under her glare.

“Lance, be good.” She said, simply. “And Rachel, be nice to your brother.” 

“Mama, look at the way he’s blushing!” Rachel gestured to the whole of him, with a dramatic flourish that was unique to both of the twins. “We’re all thinking it!”

“This was a mistake.” Lance concluded aloud, hiding his face in the puffy collar of his shirt. His eyes trailed to the side, back up to Keith’s face with a sense of hesitation that was unusual for them. He wasn’t sure how much Keith had clued in to though, if he realized what the topic actually was. 

Keith was definitely smirking when their eyes met, that smug self-satisfied little grin that just barely showed the tips of his canine teeth. Lance kicked him under the table. “What the hell are you smirking about? Like you’re in on the joke?”

“What joke?” Keith countered, eyes alight with mischief. And at that point, it was impossible to tell whether the joke had gone over Keith’s head entirely and he didn’t even realize there was one, or if he truly had clued in to what was being insinuated about the two of them and thought it was the most amusing thing he’d ever heard. Either way, Lance was completely exasperated with him.

“I hate all of you.” 

“I don’t think you do, actually.” Keith responded, grinning almost devilishly. Lance gaped at him, wondering why the hell Keith would decide to choose now of all times to gain his confidence back around the others. Lance brandished his fork as a weapon, threatening to stab Keith between the eyes with it.

“Eat your potatoes and shut your mouth.” Lance ordered him, pout on his lips.

The rest of the meal went surprisingly smoothly. Any conversation that followed was light and easy, carried mostly by the other members of Lance’s family. They talked about the chores they had finished throughout the day, all the things they still needed to do before they could leave for the festival. It was normal table talk, thank god, and every now and then something would strike Keith as familiar and he’d even contribute.

Lance would never forget the teasing looks he got when Keith listed off the names of all twenty of their family sheep, like they were his own. It was all too incriminating, how much he actually knew. It was clear he’d been a part of Lance’s life for much longer than anyone could have guessed.

But, underneath all the flustered embarrassment at being called out on the matter, there was an underlying sense of pride so strong it was blinding. Keith contributed to the conversations so easily as he grew more comfortable, talking about the farm with a sense of understanding no one could have expected from him. It was something else, seeing how easily he fit into their dynamic.

Lance had never been a private person, not really. He’d sort of missed this, being able to include his family in his life, in the things that were most important to him. And looking at Keith like this, endearing and goofy in all of his nonexistent social skills… there was just no denying how important he was to Lance either, let’s leave it at that.

Anyway, the point was, things were going good. Great, even. 

Until Keith got up to put his plate into the sink, the last to finish his meal when he was so busy chatting away about anything and everything. The conversation died like a light. The room basked in tense silence in a matter of seconds. All because of a glint of metal sparkling in the setting sun.

Rachel was across the room in seconds, shoving her way rudely into Keith’s space.

“Hey! Get your hands off of him!”

“Is that _ dad’s _cross?” Rachel asked, accusation heavy in the words. Lance blanked, any useful explanation leaving his mind in a hurry. Keith stared dumbly down his nose at where she was clutching the cross hanging from his neck, almost threatening to snatch it right off of him. Lance could only imagine how that would go over, taking treasure from a dragon wasn’t entirely unlike taking candy from a baby. The temper tantrum would be unmatched, he was sure of that much.

Keith reached up, ever so hesitantly. He picked the cross out of her hand, pulling it back and tucking it under his shirt again. A territorialism in his eyes that definitely wasn’t human. Lance shoved himself between them before Rachel could fully process any of it and get mad because she surely would. She felt just as entitled to that cross as anyone else, it’d been an argument between the two of them when they were younger that had lasted for weeks.

“I can explain!”

“Lance.” Luis sounded exhausted, maybe a little bit hurt too.

“No, seriously! It’s not what you think, I really can explain!” Lance would sooner tell them the truth in its entirety than he’d take another second of his family looking at him like that. Like he’d betrayed them, worse than when he’d come back from the dragon lair unharmed. This was something unforgivable, something hurtful, something blatantly disrespectful.

God, what would his mama think?

What _ did _ his mama think?

He turned to her with wet eyes, ready to beg for forgiveness… only to find her smiling.

“There’s no need to.” His mother addressed the whole table, her tone final. She turned to just Lance then, eyes sparkling with pride. Lance crumpled in on himself, uncharacteristically shy. He’d never brought home an actual love interest before, had always sorta wondered how it would go. Now he’s really glad that he never tried to in the past. “I’m happy for you.”

“It’s not-” Before Lance could finish, he cut himself off in horror. She was approaching Keith with a look of determination, face set in a firm line, trying to appear intimidating and failing miserably with her year’s worth of laugh lines and her kind eyes. 

“Take good care of him, keep him out of trouble.” 

“Mama!” Lance hissed, looking at her helplessly. She barely gave him a sideways glance, her attention focused entirely on Keith. She placed her hands on his shoulders, dangerously close to brushing where his wings might be. And panic was crawling up Lance’s throat hot and vile for more than one reason all of the sudden. He shoved his way closer, hovering close to Keith, protectiveness flaring up.

“I can tell he really cares about you. Don’t hurt him.” 

“Never. I would _ never _ hurt him.” Keith responded immediately, spoken with such deep conviction that there was no room left to debate his intentions. His mama smiled, looking almost teary-eyed as she turned to Lance and gave him The Approving Nod. Lance groaned in embarrassment.

“Well! I’m gonna walk Keith back to his traveling caravan!” Lance all but shouted, grabbing onto Keith’s arm with all his strength and attempting to haul the dragon out of the house. Keith didn’t even stumble off his feet, just stayed planted firmly to the ground and turned to look at Lance. He furrowed his dark eyebrows together.

“But I thought we were going to the harvest festival together?”

“We are, Keith. Damn it. Can’t you keep a secret to save your soul?” Lance hissed out, much to the amusement of his mother. Lance tugged more insistently, until Keith finally took the hint and followed him toward the door. Lance looked back over his shoulder, pointing at Rachel in specific. “I swear, if you bug us in public-”

“She won’t. I’ll keep an eye on her.” Veronica was the one to speak up, surprisingly enough. She gave him a knowing look. Lance blushed like mad. He’d always been particularly close to Veronica. Between Rachel hating his guts from birth, and his terribly failed efforts at being like his older brothers, she had always been his favorite sibling. He’d spent hours in her room, listening to her talk while she did her makeup, while she got ready to go out for her shift at the tavern. He always thought she was the coolest person alive, figured he’d be alright if he grew up to be just a little bit like her.

And, maybe, deep down in some repressed area of his heart… it felt really good to see her approving little wink. Cool, casual, but genuine. “Go on, have fun. Be young and in love.”

Lance groaned.

He left like his feet couldn’t carry him fast enough after that.

\--

The sun was barely peeking above the horizon by the time they get there, but there were plenty of lanterns to light up the whole field. The sheer amount of people had Keith leaning in close to Lance, tail curling around his leg just out of sight from everyone else. Lance wrapped an arm around his shoulders with a laugh, pulling him close. Here, he didn’t mind the attention, where everyone was too wrapped up in themselves to pay any mind to them. 

“It’s loud.” Keith complained, as Lance steered them both toward the drinks. Lance rolled his eyes at him, getting them both a mug full of beer. He tipped his back immediately, wiping the froth from his upper lip with the back of his hand. He turned to Keith then, finding him still holding the mug between his hands, long tongue dipping into it experimentally. He pulled a face. “Why would you drink this?”

“You don’t drink it for the taste. You drink it because it makes you feel good.” Lance told him, rather matter-of-factly. Keith didn’t look convinced. Lance took it off his hands with a sigh, like it was the greatest hardship he’d ever faced. He tipped it back and chugged the second drink down as well. It was sort-of typical for everyone at the harvest festival to get drunk as a skunk. Hence why it only got more fun the older Lance got. 

“I didn’t say I didn’t want it!”

“Keith, it’s fine, you’re allowed to hate it. Everyone hates it at first.” Lance laughed, shaking his head fondly. Keith still pouted all the same, angry at having been gifted something only to have it taken away just as quickly. 

“I just needed time to get used to it.”

“It was a dumb idea to get a dragon drunk anyway. That would have ended badly.”

“It would not!” Keith was defensive now, petulant in a way that Lance had grown fond of somehow. It was just too cute, seeing him get worked up. His eyes would glow dimly, the hint of smoke he’d breathe out on every exhale. Lance poured himself one last drink for now, one he’d carry around with him. 

“I know something you’ll like more anyway, come on.”

“What is it?” Keith asked, suspicious now when Lance handed him a cup of mysterious liquid. He took it just the same though, grabby little thing that he was. He leaned in close and took a hearty sniff, wrenching backward with a very dragon-like hiss. Lance giggled, beginning to feel giddy, unsure whether it was the upbeat atmosphere or the beer hitting him so soon. “Why would you give me this?! It burns!”

“That’s the cinnamon, you idiot.” Lance grinned, nudging him playfully. Keith glared at him. 

“I don’t like it.”

“Keith, you haven’t even tried this one!”

“I want to drink what you’re drinking.”

“You didn’t like it!”

“I like this even less.”

“There are_ kids _drinking it, Keith.” Lance pointed to one of the young ones that had just run up to the table and grabbed a cup full of it, chugging it back with no problems. Keith watched it happen, his eyes an icy glare on the poor unknowing child. Lance shoved him, garnering his attention again. “I know what your tastes are. I know you’re gonna like it. Try it.”

So Keith did, with maybe a little bit more convincing in the form of a pout and Lance’s best big blue puppy dog eyes. He tipped it back and then pulled away, smacking his lips as he critically examined the taste. Lance stared at him, expectant.

“Well?”

“It’s okay.” Keith said, feigning indifference.

(By the end of the night Keith had gorged himself on _ twenty-three _ cups of hot apple cider. Yes, Lance was counting. Sue him, he’s petty.)

After getting the drink situation sorted out, Lance pulled Keith away to look at all the exhibits of animals and produce people had brought to the festival. They walked hand-in-hand, partially so Keith didn’t get lost, partially because… Lance had liquid courage in his system and his inhibitions were significantly lowered. Whatever. Keith certainly wasn’t complaining.

Three pints in quick succession and Lance was sure the full extent of the alcohol was starting to hit him already. He eyed the dancefloor longingly for when it finally did. He’d never… he’d never had someone else to dance with before. He glanced toward Keith, contemplative. He probably didn’t know the first thing about dancing, but what he lacked in social prowess he made up for in dragon reflexes and strength. He might be able to figure it out.

“Hey, what are these?” Keith asked, head resting on Lance’s shoulder. He was idly sipping another drink of apple cider, admiring the massive pile of pumpkins the village had put together. Lance cast him a weird look, laughing.

“Pumpkins.”

“I know that, Lance, you drunkard.” Keith teased him, sticking his forked tongue out. Lance sneered back at him, giggling playfully. He wasn’t drunk. Just pleasantly tingly. Maybe tipsy. “I meant why do they have faces carved into them?”

“Jack O'Lanterns.” Lance explained, leaning in to admire the handiwork. Only a handful of them had been carved, All Hallow’s Eve was still a few weeks away and the rest were likely being saved for that. The ones that had been carved were interesting though. “They’re a decoration. We put them on our doorstep to ward away evil spirits.”

“Can I make one?”

“I don’t-” Lance tried to say, but Keith was already grabbing his pick of the pumpkins. Lance glanced around warily, making sure that no one had seen them or was watching this corner of the field. No one was around, most of the crowd on the dancefloor by this point. So Lance sat down on the crisp autumn ground, Keith following his lead. He hauled the pumpkin into his lap, watching as Keith used his claws to carve a picture into it.

A few minutes later, Keith turned it around to show Lance with a goofy grin. Lance picked it up, examining the carving. It was a terribly ugly thing, if he was being completely honest. Keith had given it his best effort, but he simply sucked. And that was the cutest thing about it. Lance smiled to himself, so hard his cheeks ached.

“What’s this supposed to be?”

“It’s you!”

“That does _ not _look like me.” Lance gasped, understandably offended. This started a familiar easy argument between them, Keith getting all up in his face to make his point, Lance leaning back and grinning through it. 

“Yes it does!”

“Does not!”

“Does too!”

“Do-” Lance stopped himself, a loud bout of laughter coming from the dancefloor and drawing his attention in that direction instead. He turned, watching as an upbeat song came on and everyone began to dance circles around each other, hollering and shouting as they want. Lance gulped, eyes darting back to Keith. Keith, who was now making agonizingly detailed edits to his original pumpkin carving, trying to make it more realistic. “Do you wanna dance?”

Keith froze. Ever so slowly, those dark purple eyes looked up and into Lance’s, nervousness reflected in the moonlight.

“With you?”

“Yeah.” Lance laughed, the softest smile gracing his lips. “Come on.”

He held out a hand, fingers wiggling invitingly, and Keith took it without a shred of hesitation. He grabbed and held tight, like his life depended on not letting go. Lance led them both out to the edge of the dancefloor, where not many people bothered to stray to. The music was quieter here too, quiet enough that it didn’t overwhelm the moment. It had changed to something much slower too, and almost everyone out dancing was a couple.

Lance flushed.

“I’ve never really done this before.” Keith admitted, as he lifted his arms and then aimlessly let them drop back down against his sides. Taking the initiative, Lance stepped closer and wrapped his hands around to rest on Keith’s lower back, interlocking his fingers there. 

“Me either.” Lance mumbled, distracted as he side-eyed the couple next to them and made sure he was doing this right. He stepped a little bit closer, deciding that the inches between his and Keith’s chest wasn’t the normal custom. Keith flushed a deeper shade of red at that, turning his head and tucking his face into Lance’s shoulder. “You’ve gotta wrap your arms around my neck. Like everyone else.”

Slowly, Keith’s hands rose up to do just that. It was a bit of a struggle, given that he didn’t want to back off of Lance even an inch and risk his flustered expression being noticed, but they got there in the end.

“Now what?”

“Now… we just kinda sway a little bit.”

“It’s boring.”

“You’re boring.” Lance countered, placing a light kiss to the top of Keith’s head, overtop the hood that he wore. He hoped Keith didn’t feel it. Or maybe he hoped that Keith did. He wasn’t sure. He needed another drink after this, lest he overthink it anymore than he already was. “Do you want to stop?”

“I didn’t say that.” Keith mumbled, hiding his face in Lance’s shirt again, with a frustrated huff. Lance laughed bright and airy, hugging Keith that much closer to him.

“Alright, we won’t stop then.”

Later, once the party had started to die down and all of the families had gone back home, leaving only the drunkest of the partygoers behind, Keith and Lance retreated off on their own. Keith stole one of the remaining kegs of apple cider, after Lance teased him that he wouldn’t do it. So, when he puffed his chest up and did it, Lance laughed so hard he thought he might cry. They ran off into the woods then, with Keith toting the massive keg around like it weighed nothing.

They made it back to the farm a while later, Lance frequently stumbling and leaning into Keith for support. He wasn’t drunk. He wasn’t! Honest. He knew his limits and he was responsible and he always gripped Keith’s bicep just like this, hands soft and exploring over the muscle there. Fuck. 

Out of everywhere they could have ended up, Lance found himself collapsing into the soft hay in the loft over the barn. He sighed contently for all of a second, before fully registering all the stray pieces poking into his face and then sitting upright. Suddenly, he remembered what he was meant to do when he got to the top of the ladder. He wrenched the window open, giving room for Keith to fly up with the keg, rather than try to carry it up the ladder.

“I can’t believe you stole that.” Lance giggled uncontrollably, falling back into the hay in a fit of laughter all over again. Keith set the keg aside, crawling over to collapse next to him. He laid his cape out underneath himself, before thinking better of it and moving aside to give Lance room to lay on it. Lance, who Keith had to practically pin to the ground, to keep from rolling clean out of the loft in his state. “It’s not even alcohol, Keith! It’s not that valuable! Don’t you have a whole orchard of apple trees by your castle, why wouldn’t you just go home and make your o-”

“Shut-up.” Keith groaned, feeling a bit of guilt over what he’d done now. “You told me to do it.”

“I dared you to. There’s a difference.” Lance countered, holding up his finger in a point and jabbing it right into the center of Keith’s chest. Keith growled, rolling off of him and onto his side, between Lance and the ten foot drop down to the barn below. “I didn’t think you would!”

“Well, maybe I wanted to prove myself to you.” Keith grumbled. Lance paused, considering the words in his drunken haze. A smile broke out across his face, infectious and contagious, no one would be spared. 

“Well, maybe you don’t have anything to prove to me.” Lance said it like it was meant to be an insult, a counter argument. It ended up sounding like a compliment. Keith sighed, shaking his head fondly as he propped himself up on his elbow. His long wings stretched out behind him after a night of being kept under wraps, fluttering slowly.

Lance leaned in close, practically crawling over Keith and toppling over the edge again in his effort to touch those wings. Keith folded them back, wrapping them around Lance in a tight embrace and rolling them both in the opposite direction. They were further into the loft now, not at an immediate risk of falling out. Keith had ended up lying on top of Lance, wings folded tight around both of them and keeping them close. Keith sighed, nosing along Lance’s hairline, no doubt fighting the urge to lick him again. Lance groaned.

“-et off, you’re heavy.”

“Yeah? Well, you stink of beer.” Keith snapped back, rolling off. He sat up, pacing over to sit in the window he’d flown through earlier. Lance followed over, plopping down next to him and leaning heavily into his side, head resting in the crook of his neck. Keith glanced over at him from the corner of his eye and Lance caught him staring. He winked.

“You’ll hold me anyway though, right?”

“At a wing’s distance, maybe.” Keith huffed, but even as he said it his arm folded around Lance’s shoulders and pulled him bodily in against his chest. Lance sighed contently, slumping further and further, until his head had landed in Keith’s lap. He stayed like that, staring up at the stars overhead in the sky, through the window. Just to be safe and make sure he didn’t roll, Keith winded his tail around Lance’s midsection, holding him there. 

“You suck.” Lance said, shoving at Keith’s tail in an attempt to get the weight off of him. He gave up quickly though, mouth falling open into a yawn. “You make a damn good pillow though, I’ll give you that.”

“Lance?” Keith asked, peering down at him. Realizing that Lance was barely clutching onto the state of consciousness, Keith flicked him upside the head him. “Don’t fall asleep yet, you oaf!”

“Ow.” He grumbled, rubbing his head where Keith had pinged him. “Why not? You can sleep too, I won’t stop you. Krolia won’t ever know. We’ll sneak you back early in the morning. It’ll be fine. Go to sleep.”

“I want to talk.” Listen, Lance had learned at this point not to mess with a stubborn dragon who had his mind made up. He sighed, rubbing at his eyes to try and wake himself up more. The stars were beautiful, breathtaking even, but they didn’t make him feel invigorated as much as they did tired.

“Talk about what?”

“I don’t know.” Keith struggled visibly to find words. “_ Things _?”

“What kind of_ things _?” 

“Well, I guess…” Keith trailed off. “Do you think your family liked me?”

“Yeah.” Lance laughed at the mere idea that they hadn’t, that Keith was still somehow unsure about this at all. As far as Lance was concerned, they’d given Keith their blessing and invited him right into the family with open arms. Other than maybe Rachel, but she would disapprove of anyone with any relation to Lance whatsoever. “They liked you, Keith.”

“Good.” Keith breathed a sigh of relief, shoulders relaxing. “I liked them too.” 

“As much as you like me?” Lance pressed the issue, because even though he couldn’t see it in this lighting, he was sure Keith was already wearing that dusty light blush. Lance wanted him bright red and flustered, scrambling for words. That’s how Lance liked him best.

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

“You in love with me or somethin’?” Lance teased, reaching up smush Keith’s face with one hand. Keith batted him away indifferently. He wasn’t even the slightest bit annoyed by drunken Lance’s antics. That’s how you knew you’d found a real one.

“Yes?” Keith looked down at him, tiredness written across his features. Lance blinked a few times, clambering upright when he fully registered what Keith was replying to. He stared at the other boy, wide-eyed and shocked. Keith was wearing this lopsided uncertain smile, like he wasn’t sure yet what to make of Lance’s reaction.

“You’re in love with me?” Just repeating it had Lance’s heart doing all sorts of funny things.

“We established this earlier? You said you loved me right from the start.” Keith scoffed like he was being ridiculous. Lance deflated the slightest bit. This wasn’t the confession he was making it out to be.

“Loving someone and being in love with someone are two very different things, Keith.”

“We can’t do both at once?”

“Well, you can, but I don’t think that’s what you mean. I don’t think you understand what it means.”

“I do!”

“No, you don’t.” Lance said, this time with finality in his voice. He wasn’t going to get his hopes up, not when Keith was obviously going about this from an entirely different perspective. There was just no way he actually grasped the weight of what he was trying to say. He was just confused, as much as it hurt Lance’s heart to dismiss it and not cling to it. “You’ve been locked away in a stinkin’ castle your whole life, you don’t know what romantic love even is. You’re just-”

Keith shut him up with the sound of fabric shredding, with the collar of his shirt growing indescribably tight in all of a split second. Then he was left reeling as Keith yanked him forward, crashing their lips together with little preamble. Initially, it wasn’t exactly comfortable. There was force behind their meeting, enough that one of Keith’s fangs nicked Lance’s bottom lip hard enough to draw a bead of blood. And more than that, Keith’s mouth was fucking hot, and not in the sexy way. It bordered on being enough to have Lance wincing backward, fearing being burned.

But…

After the initial shock of it all subsided and Keith’s impulsiveness gave way to trepidation, Lance found himself relaxing into it. When Keith’s mind caught up to what he’d done and he attempted to pull away, Lance reached up and threaded his fingers through his hair, keeping him exactly where he was.

He ran his tongue over Keith’s bottom lip, memorizing the feeling of heat that rolled off of Keith in waves, especially here. Maybe he should have felt more cautious, licking into a mouth entirely capable of breathing fire, but as it was he found himself more focused on the taste of cinnamon and apples and he couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. He laughed a little through his nose, gripping Keith’s jaw and kissing him deeper, harder. Keith was a quick learner, if nothing else. He gave as good as he got.

A long stretch of moments later and Keith pulled back, breathless and blushing.

“_ I do _.” Keith repeated, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. “I know what I’m saying. I mean it.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah.” Keith said, a little bit breathlessly. He chuckled awkwardly when Lance still didn’t react, frozen like a statue, lips still unnervingly warm from where Keith’s had been pressed to them. Oh. Oh, indeed. In hindsight, maybe this _ was _ the confession Lance was making it out to be. Maybe that was exactly what this was. And Lance’s stupid brain was too intoxicated to truly appreciate the moment and be present through it. 

Keith was freaking out now, no doubt regretting everything he’d ever done or said leading up to this very moment because Lance still hadn’t given him a freaking reaction. “I’ve read the books. I saw the way the humans clung to each other at the festival. Also, I’m not an idiot… you idiot.”

“Oh.” Lance repeated, brain a skipping record.

“Do you… feel the same?”

“I’m drunk.” Lance blurted. He turned around, collapsing unceremoniously into a pile of nearby hay, hiding his face in his hands. He couldn’t do this. “I shouldn’t say anything I’m gonna regret. I should think this through. I should-”

“Lance.” Keith’s hand settled on his back, a calm and confident pressure. It followed the line of his spine, long soothing movements. Lance relaxed minisculely, breath coming a little bit steadier. He heard the shuffle as Keith laid down beside him, cuddling up close. “Look at me.”

Hesitantly, Lance lifted his head and peeked through his fingers.

“I feel like this is some form of persuasion.” Lance choked out, lips twitching with the strong urge to start smiling now. Keith’s hopefulness was too much to bear, that optimistic twinkle in his eyes, like Lance’s lack of answer was answer enough. Maybe it was. Maybe Lance was making a way bigger deal out of this than he really needed to.

“You’re in love with me too, right?” Keith asked, real gentle-like, and Lance’s heart lodged itself in his throat and decided to stay there. He swallowed hard around it, nodding hurriedly. 

“Yeah.” Lance leaned closer, leaning over Keith. He stared down at the other boy, hand caressing the side of his face, thumb working to rub away the makeup and reveal the glittering scales beneath. His hood had fallen back too, revealing the sharp points of his horns. His wings were spread out wide beneath him, threatening to curl around Lance and draw him in closer. There was no debating it really, Lance was in love with a dragon. “Guess so. No reason to hide it anymore.”

“You weren’t hiding it very well to begin with.” Keith pointed out, light and teasing, eyes sparkling with a playfulness to hide the genuine relief underneath. Lance saw through the act easy enough, he’d been the one to teach Keith such things. He knew how much had really been hanging on his response, how much this meant to Keith, to both of them. 

Lance leaned down, eyes fixated on the pink curve of Keith’s lips. His nerves got the better of him last second though, and instead he pressed their foreheads together. Keith’s eyes fluttered open at the contact, but there was no disappointment there to be seen, thankfully. He just smiled, soft and kind.

Later, when they were snuggled up in the window with Lance huddled in Keith’s lap, surrounded by strong wings to keep the heat in and ward off the cool September chill… that’s when Lance asked it. The question that had been on his mind all night, even though he tried to deny it. If he was being honest, maybe the way he’d downed drinks one after the other had a lot more to do with this question than he wanted to admit.

It still stung, having the topic brought up around the dinner table. Watching his family smile and laugh like they were nothing more than fond memories from his childhood. It was always so much more than that to Lance. The ocean had never stopped being his dream, but it felt wrong to pursue it alone. It wasn’t the same if his father wasn’t there with him, the moment he finally got to see it.

But… 

“Were you serious? About taking me to see the ocean?” 

“You want to go?”

“Yeah.”

“Right now?”

“No, not right now.” Lance chuckled, turning and burying his face into Keith’s neck. He inhaled sharply, the smell of smoke burning his nose in a way he’d never fully get used to. The heat was certainly welcome though, so he pressed closer until his teeth stopped chattering. “Soon, though. Before winter.”

“Yeah. Absolutely.” Keith agreed, easily, not a shred of hesitation. “Before winter. I promise.”

And Lance, in his defense, really tried not to take that promise to heart. He’d done that once before and here he was, still never having seen the ocean, with a lot more heartbreak under his belt. He wasn’t going to fall for the same terrible trap twice, get his hopes up in the sky and go plummeting back down to the cold, hard ground.

But… Keith had wings. And he’d always pulled through for him in the past. He’d helped him in so many ways, given so much, promised his everything with such certainty that Lance couldn’t doubt he was serious about it. 

Maybe…

\--

Lance woke up alone in the comfort of his own bed the next morning. His headache was a pounding one and it was all he could do to roll over and grit his teeth into the pillow. And if it weren’t for the soft texture of Keith’s cape wrapped around him underneath the blankets, he would have been sure he’d imagined the entire night.

But he hadn’t.

And now that he was thinking about it, it was impossible not to feel suffocated under the memories piling down on him. Keith had kissed him. Keith had kissed him!

Oh god, he was gonna be sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the smutty stuff happens in the second half of the story, it's a slowburn, yikes! Anyway, hope you're enjoying reading so far. Leave your comments Below.
> 
> social media  
main twitter/tumblr: @melancholymango   
nsfw twitter: @redgaysonly


	2. Chapter 2

It was two weeks. Two long, agonizing, horrific weeks in their entirety. Two weeks of overthinking, of regret, of fearing for the worst. Two whole weeks before he saw Keith again after that night.

It was the longest they’d gone without seeing each other in months and Lance was truly feeling the loss, uncertain what to do with his time now that he didn’t have Keith following him around and sharing all of it with him. It didn’t help that he knew for a fact Keith had been late leaving, that there was a chance he slept through most of the night and came back too late. God, what would Krolia even do if she caught him? Keith would never give Lance up, would never ever throw him under the bus. So there really wasn’t any way for Lance to know what had happened when he got back home.

In simple terms, it was the worst two weeks of Lance’s life. His entire family was completely exasperated with him, opting to not even stay in the same room as him for any amount of time. He quickly dissolved into an argument or a pity party, utterly swamped with worry for Keith and the careful balance of their friendship alike.

“Rachel, give me that back! It’s the last cookie left!”

“No way, you snooze you lose!” 

“You took it out of my hand!” Lance shouted back at her, biffing a pillow at her from across the room, hard enough to have her crying out when it collided with her head. Normally, Lance liked to think he had matured past the point of petty arguments with his twin sister. He’d been exceptionally understanding the past couple months, letting her get away with way more than he used to. But he was on edge lately and it was almost like she could tell, had taken to bothering him even more because of it.

“Guys, please!” His mother cried, coming into the room and grabbing them both by the arm. She sat them down on the couch, looking between them with a deep scowl. Lance shuffled uncomfortably where he sat, staring down at his feet. “How old are you two?”

“Nineteen.” Lance sighed, wringing his hands together.

“Yeah, what he said, except add an extra minute and thirty-nine seconds because I’m older.”

“Shut-up, Rachel.” Lance hissed, stomping down on her foot. “This isn’t about you.”

“That’s it. Both of you, get out. Go work off some steam outside.” They both gave matching groans of disbelief, staring pleadingly up at their mother. She showed no sign of backing down. She held her hands on her hips, looking between them. “Go on, Rachel. I want to talk to Lance.”

“Haha, sucker, you’re in more trouble than me.” Rachel whispered from the corner of her mouth, shoving him as she got to her feet. Lance tripped her on her way out of the room, earning him another dirty look and an unimpressed sigh from his mother. Rachel disappeared from sight and suddenly all the urge to fight and argue swept out of Lance in one heavy breath. His shoulders slumped.

“What’s wrong, Lance?”

“I don’t know…” Lance trailed off, staring angrily at the ground. 

“Be honest. I can’t help unless you talk to me. I know something’s bothering you.”

“Well…” Lance looked up at her, wondering how much he actually wanted to share. She sat down next to him, her expression an earnest one. He sighed again. “It’s Keith. I haven’t seen him since the night of the harvest festival and I might have done something really stupid. I was drunk and I wasn’t thinking. I might have misread the situation. I’m scared I hurt him.”

“There’s only one way to find out for sure, you realize? You have to talk to him.”

“It’s not that simple.” Lance scowled. He came up with a lie on the spot, one that didn’t involve an ominous mother dragon protecting her child. “He’s not here. His family moved on to the next village. I don’t know if they’ll be back anytime soon.”

“Lance, look at me.” She placed a weathered hand on his knee, squeezing it reassuringly. Sad blue eyes reluctantly lifted to meet hers. Her smile was kind, albeit more than a little bit tired. “If he cares about you anywhere close to the amount you care about him, then he’ll find a way to come back here. Soon.”

“I hope so.” 

And, like magic, the next morning when they were all settled to eat breakfast, a knock sounded on the door. Light and fleeting, nervous in disposition. Lance was on his feet before those knuckles even had a chance to touch the door a second time. He crossed the room hurriedly, his meal forgotten.

“Aw, look at him.” Veronica sighed after him as he went, her tone soft with amusement. Lance didn’t even care about being teased anymore, he just wanted to see Keith again.

He pulled the door open in a hurry, panting slightly as his eyes landed on the prize.

Keith looked good. There was no sign of a furious mother dragon attacking him, no dark bags of stress under his eyes, no sign that he’d been gone at all really. Aside from the way he was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, not looking Lance directly in the eye.

“Hey.” Lance couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice, he just couldn’t. “What are you doing here?”

Before Keith could even begin to form an answer, another shrill voice cut through their emotionally charged silence. Rachel was loud as ever, loud enough that Keith could definitely hear her from outside.

“What do you think he’s here for, Lance?! To see your beautiful and charming sister? Come on, idiot, he’s in love with you!”

“Stop eavesdropping!” Lance shouted back into the room, before stepping out onto the porch and slamming the door behind himself. He wasn’t even going to begin to attempt to unpack what she’d said, not considering what his last interaction with Keith had been. He wasn’t sure if they were talking about that yet, if they were going to bring it up right off the bat or wait until they were more at ease. Either way, the topic of being in love with each other was strictly off limits until Lance had a far better idea of where they stood. 

As it was, Keith looked almost nauseous with how uncomfortable the words had made him. That surely wasn’t a good sign, was it? Lance worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “You need something?”

“Do I have to need something? Can’t I just visit a friend?” Keith said, finally, finally looking up from the ground. His dark eyes were unreadable, too many mixed emotions swirling in his irises to even begin to decipher. Lance nodded, lips twitching into a smile as he recognized the familiar quote. 

“No, of course not. I’m happy you’re here.” Lance reassured him, stepping down off the porch and throwing his arms around Keith’s shoulders. Keith pulled him in just as eagerly, holding him as close as possible. Lance didn’t even care when it grew difficult to draw a breath around the pressure of Keith’s arms holding him. “I was worried when I didn’t hear from you last time, I thought you might have gotten into trouble.”

“I got back in just in time, she didn’t notice I was gone.” Keith explained, pulling back to exchange quick giddy smiles. He dug into his pocket then, pulling out a sparkling gold ring. “I was thinking we could go into the village today. I brought this. Can I buy cakes with this?”

“You can buy an entire bakery with that.” Lance muttered. And then, when Keith cast him a curious expectant stare. “... Yes, you can buy cakes.”

“Good.” Keith slipped it back into his coat pocket then, reaching up to readjust the hat he was wearing. It was Lance’s first time seeing Keith wearing a hat, but he supposed he had to improvise after leaving his cape with Lance. It sort-of suited him, oddly enough. A flat cap that barely covered his horns, and did nothing to hide his unruly mane of black hair. “You’ll come with me?”

“Of course I will.” Lance was already slipping back into the house, grabbing his jacket off the hook and slipping it over his arms. He ignored the knowing stares of his family members, hurrying back out to see Keith again. He hopped down the steps, hesitating for just a second before shaking the thought away and grabbing Keith’s hand just like he always would have before. If they weren’t going to talk about the things that had happened that night, then as far as Lance was concerned it hadn’t. He wasn’t going to let his worry over it keep him from acting how he normally would. “I need to show you all my favorite places.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Keith said, weaving their fingers together effortlessly. “I’m really excited.”

“I can tell.” Lance laughed, letting himself be pulled along by the dragon. At this point, he had a pretty good understanding of the village paths and how to get from place to place, even if most of the time they’d taken shortcuts through the woods to avoid running into people. After the festival, it seemed that a lot of Keith’s fears had been forgotten. “You’ve wanted to do this for a long time, huh?”

“It feels like forever. I’ve always wanted to go shopping. It’s so fascinating to me, that you just exchange goods for even more goods! It’s like treasure hunting, but without any of the hunt.” Keith chatted on excitedly, his footsteps growing even more impatient. Lance stumbled hopelessly after him, feeling so painstakingly in love that it hurt to think about it too much. Keith glanced back at him, eyes alight with childlike wonder. “And as much as waiting for it sucked, I’m kinda glad I get to experience it with you.”

\--

“Lance! Look at that!” Keith shouted, darting across the plaza and into another one of the small family-owned shops. Lance had never even been inside most of them, despite the village being relatively small. Up until recently, he wouldn’t have been able to afford any of the handmade goods they offered, and old habits tend to die hard. Keith had nothing holding him back though, had been darting in and out of them all day long. 

Lance was pretty sure that this one was a chocolate shop. A luxury he’d only experienced a handful of times in his life. He was sure Keith would love it though, with the sweet tooth he had. 

In all honesty, Lance was starting to tire of shopping. It wasn’t the fun experience he’d always imagined it to be. Even now that he had money to spare, he was far too paranoid to spend as frivolously as Keith seemed to want to. He still clung to the worry that something might happen, that it was only a matter of time until his family found themselves in need again. He couldn’t justify it.

Luckily, Keith was as kindhearted and sweet as ever, offering to share everything he bought and offering to buy Lance his own. As it turned out, he had a whole pocketful of jewelry and he was just handing it out between the shops, not bothering to spare a second thought.

It was kind of cute. Lance had no idea how he was going to hide all his purchases from Krolia when he got back home, but hopefully he found a way. 

Lance didn’t bother to follow him into the chocolatier shop, instead sitting down on the bench outside and examining the things he’d already purchased. Toys and trinkets, so many sweets his teeth would surely rot, and even a knife from the blacksmith’s that had struck his fancy when the metal shined just right. He really was an odd one.

Lance was so focused on Keith’s haul that he didn’t look up at the sound of footsteps approaching, didn’t think anything of it until it was too late.

“Hey, it’s the McClain kid.” A chill ran down Lance’s spine hearing that particular voice. It was the sort of thing that haunted his dreams. He was lucky enough that now that he was out of school, he didn’t have to hear it on a daily basis. But it still haunted him, the memories of the other boys in his grade that had bullied him so miserably. And, the village wasn’t particularly large, so whenever Lance found himself in the wealthier district of shops he was bound to run into at least one of them. 

Today, he just so happened to be lucky enough to run into the group of them at once. 

He looked up ever so slowly, coming face to face with James himself. The eldest son of the Griffin family, the owners of the mine, the only industry that kept their village on the map whatsoever. There wouldn’t even be a village here if James’ family hadn’t discovered the profitable ores all throughout the mountain in veins. Over the last few generations the village had only grown, and the Griffin family’s wealth with it.

They employed most of the town, both of Lance’s older brother’s included.

“What do you want, James?” Lance asked, his tone clipped. He wasn’t trying to start anything, he wanted more than anything to avoid this confrontation altogether. He would bow his head and take whatever snide comments were coming his way, if it just meant avoiding a big altercation. 

“What do I want? Oh, why Lance, I’m just trying to keep the neighborhood clean.” James grinned, a cruel expression twisted on his face. “You’re hardly a sight for sore eyes. I think you’re scaring business away for this poor family. Lance McClain, so poor and dirty that even a dragon wouldn’t eat him.”

“Leave me alone, James.” Lance huffed, getting to his feet in a hurry. He attempted to rush into the shop after Keith, deciding that was definitely preferable to staying where he was right now. James caught him by the arm though, tugging backward.

“What are you doing going in there? You can’t afford anything anyway.” He sneered. “You gonna steal it? Like how you stole all the money to keep your house?”

“We know he didn’t earn it, no one in their right mind would hire him.” 

“Rumor has it he sold his body for it, but can’t imagine who would want to buy that either.” 

“Fuck off!” Lance shouted, all the opinions from all angles suffocating him. Silence followed for a few blissful seconds, before they all broke down into mean laughter. One of the other boys shoved Lance, a smirk on his face. Predatory. More intimidating than a dragon, that much was for sure. Far crueler.

“Look who thinks he’s tough now.” James hummed, sitting down on the bench Lance had occupied before. Lance whipped around, but not fast enough to grab Keith’s bags back before James had started to snoop through them. He pulled out one of the snowglobes, shaking it a bit before throwing it haphazardly to the brick beneath his feet. It shattered and Lance paled, remembering how Keith had lit up so proudly when he first found it on the shelves of the store. “Know your place. No one wants you here.”

“I hate you!” Lance shouted, loud enough to draw the attention of some passersby. James looked up at him through his lashes, a challenge sparking in his eyes. 

He was on his feet and swinging before Lance had a moment to process, the heavy crunch of a fist connecting with his jaw sending him stumbling backward. He fell onto his ass on the brick of the plaza, groaning as he clutched his injury. He didn’t speak, didn’t dare to with how his jaw ached.

James stepped toward him, towering over him. He leaned down, gripping the front of Lance’s shirt and no doubt preparing to throw another punch. Lance squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for it.

“Leave him alone!” 

_ Keith. _

“Who are you?” James huffed out a laugh, straightening up to assess the ball of fury charging toward him. Keith didn’t look incredibly intimidating, wearing an oversized sweater and a hat two sizes too big for his head, and considerably shorter than any of the other boys around. But Lance certainly knew who would come out on top of a fight. “Another brother? I never can keep track of that family. It’s like there’s another sibling every time you turn ar-”

James was interrupted when Keith grabbed him by the shirt, throwing him unceremoniously to the ground beside Lance, with a lot more force. He slammed James down against the ground with a heavy thud, crowding him there.

“Apologize to Lance. Right now.”

“Why would I do that?” James spat in Keith’s face, seething with anger as he tried to thrash out of the dragon’s hold on him. He kicked his feet out blindly, connecting with Ketih’s shin and really only hurting himself in the process. Keith was a fucking solid wall of muscle, Lance had learned that the hard way from the very beginning.

Then again, maybe Lance hadn’t learned the hard way. It was hard to call it that when he was watching James learn it right now, through Keith’s fist colliding with his cheek. A sickening crunch and Lance rolled as far away from the tousle as possible, watching blood streak from James’ nose. Oh god, this wasn’t going to end well. The Griffin family wouldn’t stand for a hair on their son’s head being misplaced.

People had started to gather around, watching as Keith and James rolled around on the ground, throwing punches wildly. The other boys were attempting to join in now, trying in vain to pry Keith off of their friend, but it was really a lost cause. It only really ended up with all of them on the ground as well, with Keith tackling them one after the other.

“Hey! You kids! Break it up!” The owner of the shop cried, stepping out into his doorway to look down at the mess before him. “No fighting in the town square, you’re making a scene!”

“Someone get the police!” Another woman called, very clearly panicked. Lance was having difficulty fully keeping up with what was happening in front of him. Keith was just a blur of movement, whipping around each time someone would approach him. He was taking on four other boys at once and somehow winning, tossing them around like they weighed nothing at all, pulling back from each punch with knuckles bloodied. 

“Calm down, kid, you’ve knocked them all down. There’s nothing left to fight, unless you plan on killing them.” A bystander attempted to approach him and Keith genuinely roared at him, vicious and animalistic, nothing human about it. The man stumbled backward with a yelp, taking off running for help instead.

“He’s feral, look at him.” The woman from before whispered, judgment heavy in her tone. Lance tried to compose himself, getting to his feet and hesitantly approaching Keith. For the first time in a long time, he found himself feeling the slightest bit… afraid. Keith really did look wild, like someone who had never known the customs of humans, only knew the food chain and that he had claimed the title of king. 

Lance gulped, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder before he could bring his fist down again.

“K-Keith, come on.”

“He hurt you.” Keith growled back, physically trembling with the effort it was taking him to hold back long enough to say it. Lance grabbed his fist, holding it tight before it could fly off in another punch. James was lying unconscious underneath him, or at the very least he hoped it was just a case of being unconscious. Oh god. 

“What’s wrong with him?! Look at his head!” A woman screamed. A blood-curdling horrified scream. A chorus of gasps following as everyone else realized what she was talking about. “He’s a demon!”

Keith’s hat had slipped from his head, falling to the ground during the fight. Lance realized too late.

“Keith, we’ve gotta go.” Lance urged, settling beside Keith and attempting to lift him onto his feet. He was still shaking with rage though, claws gripping onto James’ shirt and refusing to unthread from the fabric. Lance pulled at him more insistently, catching a glimpse of a uniformed officer running toward them. This wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be happening. “Keith!  _ Please _ !”

Finally, Keith seemed to come back to himself. He blinked a few times, looking up at Lance with those wide naive eyes, making it so hard to believe he was sitting in a circle of unconscious bodies. That he’d done all of that. Lance groaned, grabbing his hand again and pulling him to his feet. Keith went with him this time, jumping up after him. 

They took off toward the tree line, dodging every person that attempted to block their way. Lance led the way into the forest, not even giving himself a second to catch his breath. He could still hear shouting behind them. They wanted Keith. Wanted to hurt him. God only knows what they’d do with him.

Lance didn’t stop running until they’d reached  _ their _ spot, the one down by the river on the outskirts of their farmland. Lance fell to his knees then, breaking his hand free from Keith’s so he could double over and catch his breath, hands digging into the moss. 

Keith stayed uncharacteristically silent beside him, eventually settling onto his knees in the grass at his side. His hand reached out, ever so slowly seeking out Lance’s in the grass, wrapping around it. Lance stared down at their interlocked hands, the sparkle of black scales just barely visible beneath a layer of blood. Oh god, there was so much blood.

Lance sat up abruptly, catching a glimpse of Keith’s troubled expression before it was wiped from his face. He addressed Lance with a blank slate of a face, no doubt wanting to read Lance’s reaction before he did anything else. Lance shuffled closer to him, against all of his survival instincts that probably should have been screaming at him to do anything else right now.

He clutched Keith’s face between his hands, only tugging more insistently when Keith attempted to turn away from him again. Lance pulled him in, until their eyes met.

“Hey, look at me.” Lance commanded. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Keith said in a grunt, closed off and unapproachable. Even if he was physically okay, it was clear he was still shaken by everything that had just happened. Lance’s frown only deepened, not feeling reassured at all. Keith didn’t seem pleased. “Lance, I’m  _ fine _ .”

Thoroughly ignoring him, Lance went about looking Keith over for injuries. He picked up his arms one by one, rolling them over to study smears of red lining his skin. He hummed thoughtfully, dipping his hand into the river beside them and wiping the cool autumn water down Keith’s skin. The blood that had been drying to him smudged away, leaving behind unmarred skin everywhere Lance looked. It was impossible to believe Keith had even gotten in a fight, there were no bruises or scratches anywhere.

“Is _ any _ of this your blood?” 

“They were hurting you.” Keith mumbled weakly, in his own defense. Lance sighed.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I know.” Lance said, his voice hushed in an effort to calm Keith down at the very first sign of agitation. He still seemed strung-out and unlike himself, the adrenaline still messing with his head after such a close encounter. Lance pulled back, deciding that Keith was visibly unharmed. 

The same couldn't be said for the other party.

“Hey, don’t get mad. I have to ask.” Lance clarified, holding his hands up in front of himself. Keith lifted his gaze from the ground again, suspicion shining in his eyes. “Are they like, alive? Did you check?”

“I didn’t kill anyone, Lance.” He fucking growled the words, low and irritated, snappy about it. And sure, they’d long moved past the days of Lance treating him like a monster without a heart, Lance knew him far too well to think for even a second that Keith would be capable of murder under entirely normal circumstances. But there was just something about him when he got protective over Lance, he was a force to be reckoned with. And accidents could happen, thank-you very much.

“Well, at least there’s that.” Lance replied snidely, turning to the river again.

“I’m not sorry, Lance. If that’s what you’re waiting on, you’re gonna be waiting a long time. I’m not going to apologize. I won’t mean it.” Keith announced suddenly, giving no room for debate on the subject matter, stubborn in his ways. His sweet, eager to please Keith was gone entirely, replaced by a harsh scowl and a refusal to communicate. Lance sat back up, looking at him with exasperation.

“Keith.”

“I’d do it again.” Keith repeated, stronger this time. “I’d do anything to protect you. I mean it.”

“I know.” In the end, Lance decided to just let it go. He wasn’t going to fight over this, not right now. He didn’t have the energy to get into it, to try and make Keith understand what the problem actually was. It was clear this was one of those ingrained dragon mindsets, that fierce protectiveness of the things they considered to be theirs. Lance pursed his lips, eyeing Keith out of the corner of his eye.

Did Keith think Lance was his? He must. In his own way, even if only subconsciously. 

Lance sat up, reaching for the hem of Keith’s shirt with no warning. Finally, a flash of a startled dorky expression, Keith’s eyes going comically wide as he crossed his arms over his chest. He held them tightly, making sure his shirt stayed on.

“What are you doing?”

“Take your shirt off. I’m gonna clean you up.” Lance ordered, narrowing his eyes into a glare. If Keith was going to be stubborn, then Lance would show him that it was far from being an easy fight. Lance could be just as stubborn as a dragon if he needed to. 

In the end, Keith relented. He gingerly pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it aside into the grass and then struggling to find where to put his hands. He ended up bracing them on the ground below himself, nails digging into the dirt under the heavy weight of Lance’s gaze. Ha, now he had the gall to look all shy and flustered, after acting like a royal jackass moments before.

Lance looked down at him then, fully prepared to make a flirty sexual comment just for the sake of watching Keith implode under the foreign form of attention. The idea died in the early stages of planning though, Lance’s mind wiped completely clean of distractions when his gaze landed on the bloodied wound stretching across Keith’s stomach. A deep cut, still oozing a steady stream of blood now that the shirt he’d been wearing wasn’t absorbing it and hiding it within the dark fabric.

“Keith?!”

“He was carrying a knife.” Keith deadpanned. Uninvested. Distracted. 

“Jesus, you got stabbed?!” Lance screeched, hands flying in every which direction in a panic. He grabbed Keith’s shirt back up, pressing it tight to the wound and applying pressure. He tried to think of the safest way to clean it, if there was some kind of wild-growing herb he could think of off the top of his head, if the water from the river would be clean enough. “You didn’t think to lead with that?!”

“It’s not very deep.” Keith grunted, jaw clenching as Lance applied pressure to the wound. He reached down, swatting Lance’s hands aside so he could do it himself. Lance sat back on his knees, staring at Keith with a feeling of being lost. He wanted to help, he needed to have something to do, he was buzzing with so much nervous energy. Keith just suited him with a plain stare. “I’m stronger than I look, you know.”

“I don’t care! I’m still going to worry!” Lance shouted, punching him in the knee. Keith’s upper lip curled back in a snarl and Lance didn’t even back down then, hovering like a concerned boyfriend. He leaned into Keith’s space, examining him for any other gashes in his skin. There was a small one that ran down a few of his ribs, no longer bleeding but deep enough that it’d broken through Keith’s skin which was a feat in itself. 

“You sound like my mother.”

“Yeah, well, maybe Krolia isn’t so crazy after all.” Lance huffed. 

“I can look after myself just fine! I don’t need your help, I can do this all on my own!”

“Ever occur to you that maybe I want to help, dumbass?”

“Well, maybe you should make a better effort because right now you’re just annoying me.”

“You’re not exactly a joy to be around either right now!”

“It’s your fault! Stop babying me, I am not incompetent, I know what I’m doing and how to look out for myself and I’m tired of people treating me like-”

“Like they care about you? Like they can’t imagine losing you?” Lance shouted back at him, leaning in close enough that their noses brushed, ignoring the fumes of smoke rising out of Keith’s. This close, Lance was given the opportunity to truly watch as his words dawned on Keith. The fight slowly drained from his face, replaced by a flash of uncertainty. Lance was on a roll now though, Keith had opened up a can of worms and he was going to hear exactly what Lance had to say.

“I don’t-”

“I have spent the past two weeks without you in my life because of a stupid mistake, I’m not letting you make another stupid mistake and risk me losing you for even longer. You not being here sucks!” Lance pulled back, angrily pulling his shirt over his head and dunking it under the water until it was a sopping ball of fabric. He used it to clean the blood still covering Keith, both his own and otherwise. 

Keith was silent now, listening to Lance as he rambled on. “All I want is for you to be careful with yourself, to admit you're not invincible. I want to hear you say you’re sorry, sorry for worrying me even if you’re not sorry for your actions. Show me you care about how I feel, alright? I know you had the best of intentions, but you risking your well-being for me doesn’t feel like the compliment you seem to think it should be. It’s scary. I’ve lost people I love before, Keith, I don’t want to lose you.”

They sat in silence for a long while after that. Silence the entire amount of time it took for Lance to finish cleaning Keith’s arms and chest completely, pale skin free of any lingering red. His open wound was a situation that would have to be cleaned and bandaged when they got back to the farm.

“A stupid mistake, huh?” Keith’s voice drew Lance out of his thoughts. He looked up, finding Keith had deflated in on himself considerably since the heat of their argument. He looked much smaller now, back to avoiding Lance’s gaze like his life depended on it. Lance pushed his hands aside, moving the shirt only to find the wound underneath had already healed considerably.

Well. That was a handy dandy dragon quirk Keith hadn’t thought to tell him about.

Without the rush to get back to the farm as soon as possible, Lance was forced to sit down and actually register Keith’s question in its entirety. He realized too late just how much truth he’d let slip into his rant, and now it was his turn to be bashful and look anywhere but Keith’s pretty face.

“I didn’t realize you remembered what happened. I thought you were too drunk.”

“Yeah, well, surprise.” Lance joked, his tone humorless. “I wasn’t.”

“I, uh, I take it you regret it?” Keith tried, struggling to pose the question. Even though he was desperately trying to appear casual about it, it was painfully obvious how he was hanging on to Lance’s every word, every shred of a reaction he got. Lance tossed the bloodied shirt aside, biting his lip in contemplation, trying to decide how much to share.

“I probably should.” Lance mused. “It’s made things between us a whole lot messier.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“It was a stupid question. Ask what you actually mean and maybe I’ll give you an answer.”

“Are you in love with me?” Keith just came out and said it, never one for subtlety. 

Lance looked up at him, unblinking and fascinated.

“Yeah.” That was it. There was no joke, no punchline to deliver seconds after. It was just a yes or no answer, simple, plain, and anything but easy. The second it left Lance’s lips, he wished he could swallow the word back down. He wished he could answer anything else, anything less incriminating. What was he meant to do now if Keith went back on his word? Told him that he didn’t feel the same?

“You? Me? We?” Keith stumbled uselessly over his words, so in over his head that it was almost laughable, and Lance would be laughing if he wasn’t staring what might be the world’s worst rejection in the face. Keith was smiling though, and that had to be a good sign.

“I certainly didn’t fall for your way with words, did I?” Lance teased. “Yes.  _ Us _ .”

“You want to be with me? Romantically?” Keith repeated the question again, with maybe a bit more sense about him now that the fear of rejection wasn’t hanging over him so heavily. Lance gave him this look, small and exasperated and smitten all at once, waiting on Keith to fully clue in to what was happening here. When he still looked uncertain, Lance reached out and took his hand.

“Yes.” He said, clear as he could make it be. Keith stared down at their hands, his expression contemplative as he lost himself in his thoughts. Then, a giddy smile quirked the corners of his mouth upward, impossible to hide with the way it quickly engulfed his whole face. God, Lance had never seen him look so stupid, like the world had just been handed to him on a silver platter. It was getting harder to remember why he was mad at Keith.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Lance.” Keith said suddenly, voice full of conviction. He moved quickly, clambering on top of Lance and pushing him back into the grass. Lance leaned back and Keith followed, until he was settled on Lance’s hips and cuddled into his chest, shared body heat overwhelming when Keith got like this. He was nuzzling into the curve of Lance’s neck, lips pressed to the outline of Lance’s adam’s apple. 

Then, when Lance started to relax and wrap his arms back around Keith, figuring this cuddling would be the extent of his reaction… that stupid forked tongue darted out to drag across his skin. A long, slow wet slide across his neck, not entirely unlike a sandpaper-textured slug. Lance hissed, hand darting up to clap over his sensitive neck, scowling at the slime of dragon saliva left behind. 

“Keith!”

“I won’t do it again!”

“You won’t lick me or you won’t worry me again?!”

“I will never do either of those things ever again.” Keith said, with unwavering certainty. He was busy hiding his face in the curve of Lance’s collar bones now, but Lance was sure he could feel that smarmy little grin pressed to his skin. He felt no guilt whatsoever for what he’d done, was probably debating doing it again to taste a different part of Lance. Ugh.

“That’s a bold-faced lie, Keith, and you know it is.”

“I had to! You made me so happy, Lance, I had to show it somehow!”

“Show it literally any other way! You could have kissed me!”

“Oh.” Keith gasped dumbly in realization, like the thought hadn’t even occurred to him as being a possibility again until this moment. He sat up, sitting back against Lance’s lap, hands nervously pushing his hair behind his ears. He was blushing scarlet. “Is that offer still on the table now?”

“Debatable.” Lance grumbled, even as he was already leaning up to meet him halfway. Lance needn’t have bothered though, Keith only ended up placing hands heavy on his chest and pushing him bodily back to the ground. Keith crowded him against the dirt, bringing their mouths together in a needy kiss.

He kissed like there was no tomorrow, like he needed to pour each and every ounce of his feeling into this embrace and this one alone. It was more than a little bit overwhelming to keep up with, but Lance tried to kiss him back just as hard. By the end of it, they were left just panting into each other’s mouths and it would have been gross, maybe it was gross, but Lance was too high on the feeling to care.

“I love you.” Lance spoke against Keith’s lips, fingers tracing the line of his jaw. This close, he could feel the heat of Keith’s exhales against his face. It was nothing compared to the heat in Keith’s gaze, meeting Lance’s in what could have been a staring competition if it wasn’t also so much more. No one wanted to be the first to look away, so they simply stayed there, holding the eye contact as their noses brushed.

Keith’s eyes were blown wide, pupils so large they were nearly swallowing the purple of his irises. Black holes full of emotion, of rapt fascination, of desire so strong and overwhelming it made Lance’s mouth go dry. He’d never been on the receiving end of a gaze like this, never felt so  _ wanted  _ in his whole life.

“I’m  _ in  _ love with you. There’s a difference, you know, a wise man once told me.” Keith teased, smirking where he kept himself braced over Lance. He was keeping a respectable inch or two between their bare chests. Lance longed to rid himself of any of the space between them, wanting to feel Keith pressed up against every inch of him, craved it. 

“You’re an idiot. Wipe that fucking smirk off your face.” Lance said, pinching his hip. Before Keith could retaliate, Lance was surging up to kiss him again. Hot and rushed, full of intent, hoping Keith would get with the picture sooner rather than later. The growing heat inside of Lance was nearly as intense as the sweltering temperature of Keith’s bare skin as he got more into the kiss, more focused.

He was an incredibly quick learner, that could be said. Maybe it was  _ because _ of how incredibly focused he was, reverent in the way he worshipped Lance’s body and catalogued all of his reactions. He knew what felt good, what made Lance’s breath hitch in a little gasp against his lips, made his hips cant up on their own accord and press into Keith’s thigh. He used that knowledge to his advantage, repeating each sweeping curl of his tongue, each nip of his fangs against Lance’s lips that excited him so.

When they broke apart, a string of saliva connecting their lips, Lance chased after Keith’s lips with a broken whine. Keith pushed him back down though, a breathy laugh following.

“Can I touch you now?” Keith panted, eyes scanning the length of Lance’s body with poorly concealed want written all across his features. Lance arched up underneath him involuntarily, seeking Keith’s hands on him at the mere mention of the idea. He pressed himself back to the ground, scolding himself for appearing so desperate.

“Have you been waiting to ask this whole time?” Lance laughed. “Go ahead.”

And maybe Lance hadn’t realized the full extent of how much Keith had been holding himself back, because the second he had permission he was off like a light. Like a kid in a candy store, so overwhelmed by the options that he just covered a little bit of everything. 

His hands flew to Lance’s hips, gripping them experimentally and pressing them down each time they would press up against the pressure. And then they were on Lance’s biceps, squeezing and gripping, pressing just on the edge of painful when the tips of claws touched skin. And then they trailed down the length of Lance’s stomach, tracing the outline of his abs with a claw, thoughtful. And then he was moving on again, hands sliding up the length of Lance’s bare chest.

“So pretty.” 

“You’re one to talk. Look at yourself, you’re ethereal.” Lance argued, even as Keith’s hands gripped his chest. He ran his thumbs over Lance’s nipples, circling them and applying pressure, and then leaning down with a devilish look in his eyes that meant he was up to no good. He’d noticed Lance’s reactions, how sensitive he was here, and now it was just a matter of time until he used that information to his advantage.

“So…”

“What are you planning?” Lance’s voice was filled with suspicion, understandably.

“I think there should be an exception to the rule.” Keith said slyly, and then took it upon himself to demonstrate, like the good samaritan he was. He closed the rest of the distance and wrapped his lips around Lance’s nipple, the tip of his forked tongue flicking torturously against the sensitive nub. Lance cried out, squirming uselessly beneath the solid weight of Keith on top of him.

“You bastard!”

“What happened to you not wanting to be licked, Lance? Huh?” Keith countered, dragging his stupid sandpaper tongue over the whole area. He pulled back just enough for Lance to fully see and register the smirk on his face, and then he returned to his work with a dedication that was purely dragon in nature. He introduced those stupidly attractive fangs then, nipping and biting with careful hesitation, dragging the points of his teeth over Lance’s nipples until they grew too sensitive and Lance all but shoved him away.

Lance laid back, panting to catch his breath. His nipples stood hard and swollen against his chest, bitemarks growing obvious around them already. The cool air against saliva-slicked skin left Lance whining, growing impossibly hard where Keith’s ass kept pressing back against his lap, with every thoughtless shift of movement. Keith didn’t give him any reprieve either, just sat back to watch Lance writhe around on the ground, hips attempting to press up against him.

Lance didn’t even care if he looked desperate at this point, Keith had teased him enough now that he had asked for it. Besides, Keith seemed to be enjoying the show well enough.

“Am I making you feel good, Lance?” Keith asked, a low purr definitely rumbling out of his chest now that Lance was able to pay attention to anything other than the sensation of Keith’s mouth on him. Lance nodded his head rapidly, eyes squeezing shut as his hips rocked up at the right angle and finally, finally got some of the friction he was after. He kept repeating it then, grinding against Keith’s thigh with growing urgency, getting close to the edge faster than he would have liked.

Keith, bless his heart, was a fucking idiot. He backed off of Lance suddenly, all of the friction Lance had worked so hard to find disappearing at once and leaving him grumbling and cursing, irritability sparking when he was forced to fall back down from the precipice of coming in his pants like the horny teenager he surely was. He opened his eyes, ready to complain, and then thought better of it.

Maybe Keith was just nervous, maybe he’d never done anything like this before and things were moving too fast for him to wrap his head around. Maybe Lance should talk him through it more, should-

Lance’s thoughts came to a screeching halt when heavy hands settled on the inside of his thighs, pressing them suddenly apart with enough force that they hit the ground on either side of him. Keith settled into the space he’d made immediately, this time lining the length of his body up with Lance’s. He settled snug against him, immediately starting to rock his hips into Lance’s, right where Lance fucking needed it.

He looked up at Lance with this goofy little grin, eyebrows raised expectantly, like he was expecting praise for deciphering exactly what Lance needed without even having to ask him. 

Oh, fuck, fucking shit. Lance was in over his head.

“I can’t believe you want to be mine.” Keith purred happily, nuzzling his face into Lance’s neck and simply panting against his skin. Hot, burning breath, followed by the press of teeth to his jugular. Lance’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, his hands skirting clumsily down Keith’s back and pulling him in, over and over again. Fuck. It felt too good, feeling where Keith was so fucking hard it had to hurt, rocking against where Lance was leaking miserably into his boxers.

Keith  _ growled _ against his skin, low and threatening. “I want you to be mine forever.” 

“Play your cards right and maybe.” Lance teased, light and airy. Keith only grew more eager than, hands scrambling across Lance’s hips and leaving bloodied scratches behind. Lance whined, but he was feeling too much pleasure to truly complain about the pain that accompanied it. “ _ Keith _ .”

“Mine.” Keith repeated, nipping Lance’s shoulder excitably. Lance trembled underneath him, digging his fingers into Keith’s shoulder blades, holding on tight. “Say it.  _ Please _ .”

“I’m yours.” Lance agreed, clasping Keith’s face between his hands and just holding it there for him to admire. The slope of his jaw, the rosy flush to his cheeks, the lust pooling in his eyes. It was all Lance’s to have and to hold, shamelessly. Lance smiled wide. “I’m happy to be yours, I don’t want anyone else.”

“Mm.” Keith fucking moaned, drawn-out and laviscious, downright filthy in nature. Lance had figured he was being sweet, but Keith definitely interpreted it as some sort of dirty talk if his reaction was anything to go by. His hips stuttered against Lance’s, flighty and uncontrolled. He rocked against Lance in short staccato little thrusts, humping him to get himself off.

Lance was so overwhelmed by the sudden stimulation that his legs kicked out in either direction, coming up to wrap around Keith’s hips and draw him in again and again. His hands slid off of Keith’s face and into his hair, grabbing fistfuls of it and pulling each time Keith brought their hips together again.

“Keith, I’m close.” Lance whimpered, biting his lip to keep from making any embarrassing noises. Keith had been starting to slow down a little bit, but at that he sped back up until he was grinding Lance’s body into the dirt with the force behind his thrusts. Lance grinned goofily as pleasure amounted, arousal shooting through him so quick his entire body felt like a livewire. 

“Is this good?”

“F-Fuck, yes, just like that. So good. You’re so good to me.“ Lance cried out when his orgasm hit, throwing his head back recklessly. He gasped for air as he rode out the aftershocks of pleasure, coming in his pants until the fabric was left wetly clinging to his cock. He felt high with it, as he shuddered against Keith, arms wrapped tightly around his middle and hugging him. 

“You’re so pretty.” Keith turned his head to the side, kissing down Lance’s jaw and then any expanse of neck he could reach from the angle we was at. Then, his hips started to grind forward again. Slow and teasing, sure, but even that much was overwhelming for Lance in his current state. He whined pathetically, smacking Keith’s back in warning.

“Hey, no, too much too fast. I already came. It doesn’t feel good anymore.”

“Lance.” Keith whined, his tone petulant. “Come on, I didn’t make you wait.”

“Wait, what? When did you come?”

“When you said you were mine.” Keith sighed happily, lifting his head to stare down at Lance. “Will you say it again, please?”

“How are you already hard again? Is this another dragon thing?” Lance asked, mostly to himself. Keith didn’t seem to understand the question, so nothing must have been happening that was out of the ordinary for him. He seemed completely comfortable.

“You’re not? Hard again?” Keith mumbled, a frown darkening his face. “Don’t you find me attractive?”

“You are incredibly, unfairly attractive.” Lance assured him, shifting to sit up. Keith fell back onto his lap and Lance winced at the tacky feeling of cum drying against his skin. This was not ideal, he’d have to take a dip in the river before heading home. “What can I say? Human stamina just isn’t up to par with yours. It would take me another five minutes to get it up again. But I can use my hands? Or maybe… my mouth?”

“Your  _ mouth _ ?” Keith asked, bushy eyebrows drawing together in contemplation. Apparently he’d never thought of the idea on his own, with nothing to reference in the castle. Despite not being horny himself anymore, Lance found he was quite keen on the idea of being the one to demonstrate. He liked the idea of taking Keith apart with his mouth, watching him lose control.

“Hurry up and take your clothes off, I’ll show you.” Lance promised, a self-satisfied smile on his lips. Keith scrambled to get his pants off then, kicking them into the river in his haste. Lance made to grab them before they drifted down the current, he really did plan on it, but then he caught sight of something that made his mind go completely blank. He stuttered, brain going offline, wires short-circuiting.

“What?” Keith asked, self-consciousness leaking into the word. Lance ran a hand over his face, an uneasy laugh clawing its way up his throat. 

“I know I just had the best orgasm of my young life, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t normal to see double afterward.”

“Huh?”

“You have two?!” Lance asked, shaking his head rapidly just in case he really was imagining this. But sure enough, there were still two cocks between Keith’s legs, identical as far as Lance could tell aside from the fact that only one was standing erect and curved against Keith’s stomach. Lance gestured wildly between Keith’s legs, a full-blown panic developing about this. “Two!”

“What are you talking about?!” Keith hissed back at him, looking down at himself in concern. You could practically hear the gears turning in his head until finally, his eyes widened. Then it was his turn to stare between  _ Lance’s _ legs, trying to catch a glimpse of something explanatory beneath the layers of clothing that might help this conversation make more sense. “You... don’t?”

“No, oh my god,  _ no _ .” Lance practically wheezed, leaning forward. “Can I touch… _ them _ ?”

“ _ Please _ .” Keith leaned back on his hands, giving Lance plenty of room to work with. 

“This is so weird.” Lance muttered to himself, as he wrapped a hand around Keith’s hard cock. Aside from the fact it was one of a pair, it seemed like a standard human dick. Sure, it was on the big side, maybe even huge, but Lance was pretty sure it was still a passable human size. Oh God, what is he doing jacking a dragon off? He’s such a fucking-

“Just like that, Lance. You’re so good at this.” Keith’s hips are twitching minutely up against Lance’s touch in search of more, a reaction out of Keith’s control. Lance forgets his panic, basking in the praise and attention for what it is. It’s not that big of a deal, no bigger deal than the fact Keith can transform into a beast, it just took him by surprise. This isn’t so bad, not really, it’s useful if anything. “So, you could just get off indefinitely? Alternate between the two?”

“I guess.” Keith answered, with a lack of confidence that said he’d never actually tried to do it. Lance simply couldn’t stand for that, couldn’t believe it even. If he had two cocks, he would have tried every combo of touching himself, would spend so much time in his room he’d be pale as a ghost. Damn, dragons really didn’t realize how privileged they were.

He chuckled to himself, noticing that Keith was starting to get hard again with the other cock. Lance took it upon himself to speed up the process, grabbing both cocks and jerking them off at the same time, with the same amount of pressure. It was, admittedly, way too overstimulating for Keith before he was even fully hard. He yelped, hips bucking up into the touch and away from it at the same time. “L-Lance, don’t tease me!”

“I wanna try and make you come with both at once. Have you ever done that, at least?” Lance asked, looking expectantly toward him. Keith met his gaze and then quickly averted his eyes, face turning scarlet red as he rocked up into Lance’s fists. “I’m gonna take that as a yes, you know.”

“It… feels better. To touch both at once.”

“God, female dragons really had it rough, huh?”

“Lance, this is supposed to be sexy-”

“I’m just saying!” Lance laughed, high and tinny, awkward. He was floundering the slightest bit, not used to being in a sexual position. He wasn’t sure how to take himself this serious, used to making a joke out of everything. Keith was right though, now wasn’t the time. He was twitching and leaking against Lance’s hands, growing closer by the second. “They’re kind of… big. Compared to mine.”

“Dragon thing, probably.” 

“No, like, this is a little bit excessive, don’t you think?”

“Do you have a problem with it?”

“No! That’s not what I’m getting at, no.” Lance said hurriedly, and now it was his turn to heat up under all the attention as he admitted to where his thoughts had actually been at. He took his hands off, wiping them on his pants as he tried to work up the nerve to do what he was about to do. “It’s kinda hot.”

“Mm, glad you think so. Keep touching them.” Keith grunted, unimpressed with the sudden lack of attention he was getting. Lance looked up at him, their gazes meeting. Understanding seemed to dawn over the impatience then and Keith moved to comfort Lance with a hug, but Lance stopped him short and pushed him back down into the grass. He swallowed roughly, lowering himself down until his lips were practically touching one of Keith’s cocks.

“I’m gonna do the thing I mentioned before.” Lance said, eyes flicking up to Keith’s again and trying to calm himself down. Keith just looked so blissed out, so out of his head that Lance felt envious of it. If he looked at that, at the pleasure he was plainly giving Keith, then this wasn’t so nerve wracking. “I’ve never done this before, I might not be very good at it.”

“You could bite them at this point and I wouldn’t care.” Keith said hurriedly, hips shifting impatiently. The tip of his cock brushed across Lance’s closed mouth, leaving a trail of pre-cum behind. Lance experimentally darted his tongue out to taste it, pulling a face. “Come on, please, put it in your mouth.”

“Dragons are horny fuckers, duly noted.” Lance muttered, deciding that the taste wasn’t unbearable, just a little on the undesirable side. Whatever, he hadn’t expected it to taste like candy. 

Steeling his nerves one last time, he opened his mouth and took one of Keith’s cocks into it. He closed his lips around the head and sucked hard, peeking one eye open to stare up at Keith’s reaction. 

“Fuck!” Keith shouted, hands pulling up hunks of grass and earth only to throw them aside. Lance caught himself smiling around the cockhead in his mouth, before dragging his tongue across where it was leaking a shameful amount. Keith shivered beneath him, ab muscles twitching visibly as they fought the strong urge to fuck Lance’s mouth for more of that sensation. Lance started to bob his head up and down, getting into it himself now.

Keith reached down between his legs, gripping his other cock and giving it a few jerks. Then, predictably, he led the tip of it to the corner of Lance’s mouth. Pre-cum smeared across his lips where they were stretched wide around another cock. Lance glared up at him.

“Keith, I can’t fit both at once! Stop trying!” Lance hissed at him, and then went right back to what he’d been doing. He was sort-of starting to enjoy it at this point, the heavy weight of Keith’s cock on his tongue and the smooth rhythm of gliding along it was almost grounding, comforting in a way. 

That is, it would be if Keith would stop trying to fuck his mouth and guide his other cock in alongside it.

“But I need it. I need it so badly.” Keith whined back at him, his voice wrecked with desperation. He rocked his hips, reaching down to grip Lance’s hair and drag him along his cock at a quicker pace. Lance’s cheek was streaked with pre-cum from Keith’s neglected cock, twitching each time it would slide over the smooth skin there. “I want to feel you everywhere. Just like this.”

“M-Maybe the tips of both, but that’s it.” Lance offered, pulling off of Keith’s cock with a wet noise. He opened his mouth wide then, attempting to guide both cockheads past his lips then. His jaw ached already from being held open so wide, but eventually he made it work. He closed his lips around both of Keith’s cocks, tongue lathing over them, swirling around the heads. Keith was shaking beneath him, gasping and panting for breath, hips rocking up no matter how he tried to stop himself.

“I love you, I love you so much, ah, ah-” And then, mere seconds after managing to fit both cocks into his mouth, they were shooting their load across his tongue and down his throat. Lance choked immediately, before Keith had even started to come down, but he couldn’t pull off with Keith’s hands weighing him down and keeping him there. So he did his best to swallow all the cum in his mouth, inhaling through his nose and drowning in the strong scent of sweat and musk.

As soon as Keith backed off and eased his cocks out, Lance doubled over to start hacking.

“A little warning would have been nice.” Lance commented afterward, shooting Keith a withering look. It didn’t have the desired effect, Keith was still smiling so hard his cheeks must have hurt at this point, just grinning like a fool up at the sky overhead. He laughed a breathless little laugh, reaching blindly until he could grab Lance’s hand and thread their fingers together.

“Sorry.” Keith said finally, after a good thirty seconds. He was laughing though, beneath the words were the barest of giggles. Lance groaned.

“You don’t _ sound  _ very sorry.”

“That was…  _ woah _ .” Keith said eloquently, in his own defense. Then, softer and quieter; “ _ Woah _ .”

“You are so lame.” Lance accused, shaking his head as he laid down next to Keith. He wrapped his arms around the other boy and pulled him in for cuddles, fully content to fall asleep just like they were. Him, shirtless, and Keith completely butt naked because he was a feral idiot. 

But then… the unimaginable happened.

“Lance? Are you out here?” A voice called through the trees, damningly familiar. Lance was on his feet before he’d even registered who it was approaching them. He looked around, stumbling uselessly down the riverbank in search of Keith’s clothes. He found his boxers, and chucked them behind himself.

Lance climbed back up to where Keith was sitting, hoping to find him with his shirt back on and his boxers too despite them being soaking wet. He needed something to cover himself and his pants were apparently a lost cause. Instead, he was still sitting there with a stupid starstruck look on his face, completely nude in the grass. Lance gave a pained groan, slapping a hand to his face.

“Fix yourself!”

“Huh?”

“You look like you just had your dual dicks sucked, I don’t want my mother to know that!” Lance whisper-shouted at him, shoving him. Keith fell back into the grass, laughing happily as he slowly, ever so slowly, came back to himself enough to reach for the shirt Lance was shaking in his face. Keith pulled it on, grabbing his boxers after and tugging them slowly up his legs. “Fix your hair too, it looks like someone tried to pull it off your head.”

“You nearly did.” Keith commented snarkily, reaching up to rake his fingers through the tangles.

He looks suspicious at best when Lance’s mother comes rushing through the bushes, panic written across her entire face. She relaxes visibly when her eyes fall on the two of them though, so clearly her train of thought wasn’t the same as Lance’s.

“Lance.” She rushes over to him, pulling him into a hug that’s more than a little bit awkward considering the state of his underwear. He suffers through it. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mama.” 

“The police told me what happened.” She explained, looking around the clearing worriedly. She noticed the bloodied shirt on the ground and she drew a sharp intake of breath. Her worried blue eyes darted back to Lance’s, meeting his gaze. “They said that Keith attacked a group of other kids?”

“It was those rich jerks from the upper class side of town. The ones that own the mines.” Lance explained with a spiteful huff. “They started it, Keith was just protecting me.”

“He broke  _ bones _ , Lance.”

“They kept hitting me after I was down, they weren’t gonna stop.” Lance continued to defend his friend, refusing to let the rest of the village paint him in a negative light. He addressed his mother with a serious tight frown, his eyes determined. “He did what he had to do.”

She backed off slightly, heaving a sigh.

“Well, I did tell you to protect my boy, didn’t I?” His mother said, turning to Keith with a warm smile. The expression immediately disappears. She looks horrified for a fleeting second and Lance is immediately sent spiraling wondering what it could be. Did she realize what they were doing before she walked into this clearing, was Keith still covered in the blood of his enemies, did she- “What the hell am I looking at?”

Lance turned to look at Keith and realized belatedly, that they’d made no efforts to hide the most important thing. Lance was so fixated on the embarrassment of being caught having sex, he hadn’t even thought about the horns sitting atop Keith’s messy head of hair, or the wings stretched behind him. 

Oh no.

“Keith, your hat!” Lance shouted. The giddy faraway look Keith had been wearing since Lance got him off disappeared all at once, replaced by something wide-eyed and terrified. He reached up, covering his horns with his hands like that would do anything to fix the damage that’d already been done. Lance winced in sympathy. Keith had never looked so scared in his life. 

Lance turned to his mother, where she was shaking and glaring so hard her eyes were starting to blink with the need for moisture. Lance placed a hand on her arm, comforting. “Don’t freak out.”

“I’m freaking out!” 

“Calm down! You’re scaring him!”

“Why does he have horns?! He’s scaring  _ me _ !” She countered, raising into screech territory now. Keith flinched at the sound, curling in on himself. “Is he a demon? Oh no, I knew this was moving too fast. I don’t know anything about this kid, I should have asked more questions. I should-”

“Mama!” Lance shouted, exasperated at this point. He walked away from her, falling next to Keith in the grass and wrapping his arms protectively around his shoulders. He drew him into a hug, letting Keith bury his face in the crook of his neck and hide there. His tail was visible above the waistband of his boxers and wrapped around Lance’s hips, pulling him in closer. “He’s not a demon. He’s just a dragon.”

“ _ Just _ a dragon?” His mother placed a hand to her head, no doubt feeling faint. “Oh my god.”

“It’s okay, don’t freak out.” Lance said, more to Keith than his mother at this point. He cradled Keith in his arms, burying his face in his hair and glaring up at his mother. She still seemed totally overwhelmed by her emotions, but she seemed to be calming enough to have a rational conversation again now that Lance wasn’t rising to the challenge and yelling back.

“How?” She said finally, coming back to herself enough to ask questions. “How did this happen?”

“We met when I went to sacrifice myself. Keith spared me, he didn’t want to hurt anyone. He saved our village  _ and _ our farm just out of the kindness of his heart.” Lance said proudly, smiling up at her. “He’s a good guy. You don’t have to be scared of him. He’s more scared of you, if anything.”

“This is... Krolia?” She asked then, stepping closer and kneeling a few feet away from them. She was studying Keith with a new fascination, like she was staring at an experiment rather than an animal. Lance hugged him closer, wishing he could protect Keith from her probing gaze altogether. He hated that his own mother was alienating Keith like this now. Now he could totally understand how he’d offended Keith in the beginning by acting like he was a monster. 

“No, Keith is her son. Like a little baby in dragon years. Krolia’s not nearly as chill about humans, so we’ve been meeting up when she isn’t around.” 

“She doesn’t know?” His mother repeated the new information, blinking dumbly. She drew a deep breath, so heavy her body seemed to shake with the force of it. “Doesn’t know about you at all or doesn’t know you’ve been sleeping with her son?”

“We aren’t-” 

“Lance, I have eyes.” She cut him off sharply, her tone that tense sort of final that told you not to mess with it anymore. Lance had gotten in trouble enough times throughout his life that he knew exactly where the lines were and when to cross them. Lance backed down, hiding his face in Keith’s hair entirely, cheeks aflame as he muttered his response.

“She doesn’t know anything about me. She doesn’t know that I was ever there.”

“What happens when she finds out?”

“She won’t find out.”

“You’re gonna keep it a secret forever?” His mother asked, doubt plain as day. Lance scowled, looking up at her angrily, a snappy defensive comment on the very tip of his tongue. “Lance, you can’t keep a secret when it’s something mundane and meaningless. You expect to keep it a secret that you know a dragon? That you have a boyfriend, or whatever you two are?”

“I can keep a secret if it’s important.” Lance argued, pout only growing. “I’ve kept it this long, haven’t I?”

“You’ve been parading a dragon around the town square and letting it attack the locals! That’s not keeping a secret!”

“He didn’t attack anyone, okay?!” Lance shouted, tearing away from Keith to yell at her. He needed her to understand, to show some compassion to the situation. It was like she wasn’t even trying! “He’s not some rabid animal and he’s not something I can parade around. He’s just like us except he can transform into a giant creature, but even in his other form he can communicate the same! He’s a person, Mama, don’t talk about him like he isn’t here!”

She sat back in the grass, an exhausted sigh wracking her frame. She buried her face in her hands, clearly needing time alone with her thoughts, to process all of what she was hearing. Beside Lance, Keith shifted around to peek out behind his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Keith said, voice so quiet it barely carried over the wind. “I didn’t mean to break their bones.”

“Oh, honey, it’s not your fault.” Lance’s mother assured him, her tone gentle like she was talking to one of her own kids in need of comforting. It was clear she regretted her outburst now, but Lance still wasn’t sure he could trust her to side with them if it came down to it. He hoped upon hope that hse wouldn’t try to turn Keith in to the police, he’d never be able to forgive her if she tried. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then... why are you so mad?”

“I’m not mad.” She explained gently, eyes flitting between the two of them as she debated her next words deeply. “I’m just disappointed that Lance didn’t think this through better.”

“I’ve thought it through! He’s worth the risk.”

“You’re putting more than yourself at risk.” His mother countered, suiting him with an icy cool look to counter his burning hot rage. She walked over, extending a hand and helping Keith to his feet. “Let’s get back to the farm and figure this out there. How does that sound?”

Lance ignored the outstretched hand, helping himself off and sliding an arm protectively around Keith’s middle, pulling him into his side. His mother almost looked like she wanted to protest their closeness, like she was gonna say something about Lance being in danger. She must have thought better of it though, knowing they would only dissolve into more fighting if she tried. She dropped her gaze instead.

Her eyes went wide.

“Oh, Keith, you dropped something.” She bent down to pick it up, but she didn’t bounce back up quickly as she should have. She stayed bent over, rolling the flash of gold between her fingers. She looked toward Lance with eyes wide and hopeless, like she was waiting on him to explain. “A gold ring? Lance?”

“Mama, don’t jump to conclusions.” Lance pleaded uselessly. He knew how bad this must look.

“How else am I supposed to take this, Lance?!” She hissed at him, throwing her hands up in the air. She brought the ring back down, shaking her head as she examined it closer. “I know it’s serious, you can’t lie to me. You gave him your father’s cross, there’s only one thing that can mean. And now a gold wedding  _ ring _ is suddenly in the picture?”

“He was just gonna pawn it off so we could go shopping. It’s not like th-” 

“Were you gonna run away together? To avoid the law? Was that the plan?”

“I’m not lying! The ring really doesn’t mean anything!” Lance shouted at her, feeling Keith cower next to him. He was still so new to this, to interacting with people other than Lance. Today had been traumatizing for him to say the least, Lance wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to go into the village again now.

“How am I supposed to believe you after you’ve hidden something this huge from me, huh?” She asked, hands on her hips, gesturing to the whole of Keith. The disappointment in her voice was incomparable to anything Lance had ever done. He’d done some stupid things, some absolutely risky things, but never anything bad enough to make her sound that… broken. Any trust they’d built up over the past few years of Lance calming down and becoming an adult was at risk now.

Lance shut up real quick after that, deciding it wasn’t worth the argument. She’d already reached her conclusion, it wouldn’t be easy to convince her otherwise.

They walked home in complete silence. Lance and Keith with arms wrapped around each other, dread hanging over them like a dark cloud for the lecture that was bound to continue. Lance’s mother wore the smallest little frown, not angry as much as it was pained, and Lance didn’t know what to make of it. It couldn’t have been something good. She looked torn up about whatever was going on inside her head and Lance didn’t even want to think too hard on it. He knew it was bad. He just knew.

\--

When they get back to the farm, Lance’s mother is careful to wrap Keith up in some clothes that cover his dragon features completely so no one else notices them. She leads them into the house then and goes off on her own to cook dinner, no doubt thinking on what she’s gonna do about the whole situation. 

She leaves Keith and Lance alone, which means she at least recognizes that Keith isn’t a threat on his own. But the tension is still heavy in the air even now that they’re alone again. There’s the undeniable feeling that something big is about to happen, that they’re only waiting for the other shoe to drop. So, they don’t really talk much. They just cuddle up in Lance’s bed, leaning into each other.

They don’t bother going out to eat when the meal is finished. Lance has this terrible, crawling feeling that they only have borrowed time left and he wants to make the most of all of it that he can.

The sun is setting outside when his mother finally comes knocking, invites herself into his room. She takes one look at the way they’re huddled into each other, Lance’s head resting on Keith’s chest as they threaten to doze off, and she nearly walks right back out of the room. She looks so, so guilty. Lance already knows what’s coming, that he’s not going to like one bit of it.

“Keith, can I talk to you?” She says, forcing the kindest and fakest smile she’s ever worn. Lance feels his stomach fall to his feet. He digs his fingers into Keith’s shirt, desperate. It’s a lost cause though, he knows it is. This is happening whether he wants it to or not. “ _ Alone _ .” 

“N-”

“You don’t have a say in this.” His mother said, her voice strict. Lance looked at her with pleading eyes, but she just shook her head. “Don’t make me get your brother to carry you out of here, Lance. I need to talk to him. I’m not going to be mean, you know I’m not. I like Keith. I like that he makes you happy.”

“But?” Lance presses, staring at her coldly. “There’s a but at the end of that sentence, isn’t there?”

“Lance. Just go.” She said, pointing toward the door, kicking him out of his own room. He frowns as he untangles himself from Keith, noticing the way his heart rate has picked up to something nervous and terrified at the thought of Lance leaving him alone with another human he doesn’t know as well. And it’s terrible because Lance wants nothing more than to stay, to be there with him through it, but he can’t.

So he doesn’t.

He heads out into the kitchen, munches on the few scraps leftover. That keeps him busy for all of thirty seconds before his thoughts are running wild, making him sick with worry and fear for what’s happening behind that closed door. It’s nauseating, he couldn’t eat if he tried after that. 

He can’t take it anymore, he slinks back over to the door and presses himself against it. Eavesdropping.

“-care about us, don’t you? You wouldn’t want anything to happen to our family? I know you’re a good person, Keith, so you have to understand why I can’t let you keep coming around here. If your mother ever finds out she could burn the entire village down.”

“So... I’m not allowed to see Lance anymore?” Keith sounded so confused, so lost, so small. He was nothing like Lance, wasn’t nearly comfortable enough to try and fight her words. It was just resigned acceptance right from the start, no matter how the words hurt.

“Not until you sort things out with Krolia.” Lance’s mother said, gentle but harsh both at the same time, comforting and scolding alike. Lance sinks down the door until his ass is sat on the floor, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them there. He feels his eyes grow wet, breaths coming in short little panicked wheezes. This can’t be happening. “For both of your sakes. Imagine how terrible you’d feel if she found out and did something to hurt him.”

“I don’t want that to happen.”

“No one does.” Lance’s mother agreed, her own voice breaking. “I like you, Keith. I think you’re good for him and in an ideal situation, I’d welcome you into the family with open arms. But I have to protect the people I care about most, so until it’s safe for you two to be together… I don’t think you should.”

“Can I at least say goodbye?” 

“Of course you can, Keith.” She almost laughed at the blatant hopefulness in his tone, but it was all wrong, it wasn’t his mother’s usual laugh. It was forced and cinched, holding back tears. Lance angrily clambered to his feet, wiping his eyes on his shirt just in time before the door swung open.

His mother met his gaze, her blue eyes full of an apology that she was yet to speak. Lance shoved past her into the room, slamming the door shut behind himself. Apology not accepted. 

Keith brightened up immediately when he saw him, optimistic apparently even in the face of tragedy.

Lance stumbled happily toward him, a flickering flame of hope coming back to life in his chest. Maybe he’d misheard something, or maybe Keith had a plan for how to get them out of this, or maybe-

Just before he collapses into Keith’s open arms, he sees the smile crumple off of his face. He must think Lance can’t see it, that he timed it just right, the way his face falls and his eyes close tight in a wince. And from that moment forward, the flame was officially burnt out. Hopeless. That was all Lance felt as he snuggled into Keith’s arms anyway.

“L-”

“Don’t tell me you’re actually listening to her.” Lance whispered, before Keith could even get the words out. He lifted his head, finding Keith’s eyes and studying the mixed emotions in them. Keith didn’t respond, a long silence drawing out between them as they stared into each other’s eyes. “Keith?”

“She has a point.” Keith caved, the words falling past his lips in a rush. Too quick, too rushed, it isn’t casual and it’s not anywhere close to calm. “I don’t know how my mother will react if she finds out about you by accident. I love her and I want to believe she wouldn’t hurt you, but what if she did? I need to know for sure. I need to be the one to tell her.”

“And what happens when you tell her and she forbids you from ever seeing me again?” 

“I’ll find a way.”

“What if you can’t?” Lance challenged, eyes narrowing. Keith gave him a defeated kind of look, shaking his head slowly. He lifted his hand to cup Lance’s cheek, his thumb running over Lance’s lips like he was debating whether he had the right to kiss them still. They curled down into a deep frown. Lance spoke against his thumb. “Don’t go.”

“I think I have to.” Keith whispered, his voice dropping to something so quiet and personal that it had Lance shivering in his arms. Keith’s gaze had been fixed on Lance’s lips, but now it darts back up to stare into his eyes. Keith smiled weakly. “I’ll be back, Lance. I promise.” 

“The last time someone told me that, they didn’t come back.” Lance said, his tone vicious. He wrenched away from Keith, turning his back on him to hide the wetness of his eyes. He wasn’t going to cry right now, he just wouldn’t. “Forgive me for not believing it.”

Keith’s arms wrapped around him from behind, hands clasping in front of his stomach. Keith’s chin settled on his shoulder, kisses pressed along the slope of his neck.

“I haven’t taken you to see the ocean yet, of course I’m coming back.” Keith whispered against the shell of his ear, that stupid fucking tongue darting out to lick behind his ear. Lance scowled, swatting at him halfheartedly, before the fight left him in one exhale. He leaned back into Keith’s chest, going slack with how little energy he had left. Keith sighed, sensing that Lance was far from out of the woods. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, don’t apologize.”

“I love you?” Keith tried, his tone hopeful. Lance just shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut to stop the overspill of tears. No, no, no! He wasn’t going to cry!

“Are you trying to make this harder?” He spoke softly, nodding toward the door. “Go on.”

“But-"

“Go!” Lance stumbled out of his hold, his tone final even as he refused to look Keith in the eye. Keith listened to him rather reluctantly, stumbling toward the door and out into the hallway. He kept hesitating, taking the time to glance back at Lance, but Lance never met his gaze.

Lance stood alone in his room for a few minutes afterwards, heavy with emotion. It threatened to weigh him down to his knees, to leave him curled up in a ball on the floor. It was too much for one person to bear, the feeling of abandonment, the tight throat clench of heartbreak. He couldn’t live through this feeling, not again. Flashes of nights spent awake and waiting at this window, eyes on the pathway to their front door like his father might arrive home any second. The crest and crash of hopes whenever they would receive a letter from him. The fact Lance always picked out birthday presents for his father, for every birthday he’d missed, like he would come home someday to see them.

Lance winced.

But the hardest part of everything? Wishing that he’d been able to say goodbye. Obviously he’d seen his father off the day he left for war, but he was young at the time, his parents had played it down as something temporary and easy so as not to worry him. When his father walked out of his life that day, he never thought for even a second that he might not come back. It wasn’t even a possibility in his mind, of course he was coming home! 

Lance still wished he’d been able to say goodbye properly, to really express how much he meant to him.

Realization hit Lance like a truck and then he was running, out of his room and past his family, through the front door and down the pathway until he made out the shadowed figure further ahead. As Lance drew closer, it became apparent that Keith was running back at him just as fast.

They met in a clumsy clash, jumping at each other in a hug and then falling to the ground wrapped up in each other. Keith rolled them over until he was settled on top of Lance, kissing all over his face, licking into his mouth and claiming it as his own. He pulled back, pressing their foreheads together.

“Lance, I couldn’t leave like that. I couldn’t. I love you, I need to say it, I need you to hear it, I-”

“I know.” Lance breathed, grasping Keith’s face between his hands. He tilted his jaw up, pressing their lips together again and again. He gave a wet choked laugh, nodding his head and brushing their noses against each other. “I know, Keith. I love you too. I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“I’ll miss you more.” Keith argued, pressing his face into the curve of Lance’s neck and inhaling deeply, his smile pressed so tightly to Lance’s skin that it would be impossible not to recognize the sharp points of fangs poking at him. Lance reached up, threading his fingers through Keith’s hair and holding him there.

“You swear you’re coming back? No matter what?” 

“I swear it.” Keith whispered the words into his neck, so earnest that Lance felt like he had to believe it, even if it went against all odds.

“And if you tell her and she doesn’t approve? Come back anyway.” Lance told him, just to be sure. He needed to know Keith would come back for him, that he wouldn’t spend forever waiting on him. Lance was completely serious. No matter what, they’d be together again. He’d do anything to make it so. “We’ll run away together, somewhere she’ll never find us.”

“I won’t ask you to leave your family behind for me.” Keith argued, shaking his head. 

“I would.” Lance told him, as Keith pushed up onto his hands and put enough space between them that they could look into each other’s eyes properly. Keith smiled kindly at him, no doubt seeing that Lance was telling the truth. 

“I still won’t ask you too.” Keith replied, voice soft. He started to lift himself up and Lance chased helplessly after him, hugging him again once they were back on their feet. “I’ll see you soon, Lance.”

“You better, or else I’ll be forced to find a new dragon boyfriend.” Lance said, his tone playful. Something shifted in Keith’s expression though, from bashful to heated like the flip of a coin. He leaned in, smelling of angry smoke as he pressed their lips together this time. His tongue traced Lance’s lips with intent, pressing inside at the first opportunity and kissing Lance with reckless abandon. 

Keith pulled away with a sharp grin, wolfish in nature.

“Mine.” He said simply, the word charged with emotion. “You’re mine.”

“Yours.” Lance agreed, grasping his hands and lifting them up. He brought them up between their faces, kissing across Keith’s knuckles and letting amethyst eyes follow the movement. Lance winked up at him.

“I should go.” Keith said, unmistakably pained. Lance nodded in agreement, as much as it hurt him to let this happen. It would only make it harder to argue again, to leave on disagreeing terms. He let Keith kiss him one last time, fleeting and so gentle, before turning and shifting on his front lawn. And just like that, he flew off into the night sky, leaving behind only tattered clothes on the ground.

Lance picked them up, carrying the mess of fabric into the house with his face bent into a permanent frown.

This time, the living area was conveniently empty save for his mother. She looked up from the couch as he entered, a wide smile on her face. It disappeared the second she took in his disheveled experience, no doubt noticing the tear tracks drying on his cheeks. She sighed, low and pained.

“Honey, I’m only trying to protect y-” Lance shook his head and she trailed off in understanding. But when he tried to walk past her to his room, she followed determinedly after him. “Lance. You have to understand this is difficult for me too. I want you to be happy, but it’s also my job to keep my family safe.”

“I’ll be outside. Don’t come looking for me.” Lance announced suddenly, realizing that his brother would probably be in bed in their shared room. He needed to be completely alone with his thoughts right now, couldn’t stand the company of another person when he got like this. Even someone with the best of intentions, they just wouldn’t understand what he was going through.

“Lance, if you’re sneaking out to meet up with him-”

“No, I’m not! He doesn’t want to come back because you talked a bunch of bullshit into his head! Thanks for that!” Lance shouted at her, uncaring if he woke the kids. He glared at his mother, filled with a defiance stronger than any he’d ever showed. “I just want to be alone. Leave me alone.”

With that, Lance turned and left. He walked back out the front door, crawling around to climb up onto the roof of the house, where he’d sat so many nights praying for Keith to come save them during that long cold winter. Now he’s in much the same spot, but it’s been almost a year and everything has changed since.

He spent a few hours like that, until the moon was high in the sky and he was sure everyone in the house below him has fallen asleep. He let himself cry then, when he was sure no one would stumble across him or overhear. He cried until his sleeves were soaked through from mopping up the mess, until he could hardly breathe around the mess in his throat, until he was pleasantly numb down to his core. 

He was just about ready to roll over and get some sleep then, not even caring that he was sleeping on the uncomfortable texture of shingles, when a pillow hit him upside the head.

He watched it fall back down onto the roof in utter confusion. Moments later, a head appeared where he normally climbs up onto the roof, a body following, and then Rachel was sitting a few feet away from him in complete silence. She had a blanket in her arms too and she tossed that in his direction, letting it sit between them. Lance eyed her warily.

“Hey.”

“What the hell do you want?” Lance practically snarled, turning away to try and hide his wet face from her ridicule. He didn’t need this, not tonight. “Come here to make fun of me? I swear to god, Rachel, I’ll beat your face-”

Rachel got to her feet, pacing over to plop down next to him. And then, with no preamble or reasonable explanation whatsoever, she was pulling him into a sideways hug. He went, too confused to fully protest what was happening. She hugged him so tight his bones felt weak under her hold.

“I’m sorry. I know he meant a lot to you.” Rachel whispered, voice unfamiliarly filled with warmth. Lance nodded his head, so out of his element here it wasn’t even funny. “I don’t know why Mama’s being so harsh about all of this, it seems totally out of line. If you ask me, James and his goons needed a good ass kickin’. I’m kinda stoked that someone finally did it. Your boyfriend’s pretty cool, you know?”

“I know.” Lance responded, nodding against her shoulder. She looked down at him, eyes sparkling with kindness in the moonlight. It was nothing like any interaction he’d ever had with her in his entire life and somehow it still felt right. Like, for all the arguing and hell they’d put each other through, maybe they’d had each other’s backs all along.

“I’m sure you’ll work it out, little brother.”

“I’m a fucking minute younger than-” She cut Lance off, sifting through the folds in the blanket and pulling out a bottle. She shook it around, the liquid inside sloshing.

“Do you wanna finish that sentence or do you wanna drink this whiskey I stole from the tavern for you?”

“You’re still my least favorite sibling.” Lance told her, shooting her a glare even as he opened the bottle and downed a few swigs. She shrugged her shoulders, leaning back against the shingles, scratchy and uncomfortable as all hell. She left the blanket for Lance.

“Of course, wouldn’t want it any other way.” She grinned. “You’re my least favorite too.”

\--

Winter came and went, like it did every year. It wasn’t quite as harsh as the year before, which was a relief given that Keith didn’t come to help with the snow even once the entire season through. They shoveled the pathways themselves and the entire time Lance thought of the nights he’d watched Keith hard at work, blowing fire to quickly melt the snow, so easily.

Lance couldn’t fucking stand it. He couldn’t stand the anticipation. The longing. For weeks he waited up at night on the roof of their house, but already his patience was waning thin. There was an itch beneath his skin, a niggling voice that kept reminding him of all the nights he did this for naught, when his father never came home.

In the end, Lance ended up getting a job. It was at the tavern, where he’d been spending all of his time anyway, drinking an unhealthy amount to cope with that voice in his head. Now he had the wages to support his drinking problem and something to do that wasn’t waiting around for something that might never happen.

His family was worried. 

\--

Spring passed. Everything else was coming alive and blooming, Lance felt like he was withering away and dying inside. Rachel met a new boy, someone she was pretty serious about. Lance had to smile at him and welcome him into the family with open arms when she brought him over for dinner the first time, all while biting his tongue and trying not to cry at the cruelty of it all.

His family was growing desperate, trying to take his mind off of it, trying to help him.

\--

Summer. Lance spent an embarrassing amount of his time down at the river where he and Keith had hung out the summer before. Now he sat alone, throwing rocks into the water, staring at his own reflection, waiting for his shift at the tavern to start. He was slipping away from himself. Somehow, he felt like the one away from home, at risk of never coming back.

His family had stopped asking a while back, fallen into an uncomfortable complacency that this was something out of their control.

\--

Autumn brought new life into the village once again, travelers from all over coming when the mines struck a new vein of gold. Lance met all kinds of new people at the tavern, serving them up beer after beer, hearing grand stories of their travels. For a while, Lance found himself distracted from his own life, caught up in the appeals of another.

He… could do that. He could travel.

Nearly a year had passed and he hadn’t heard from Keith once. He was starting to doubt that he ever would. Would it be so bad of him to go in search of something else? To try to move on?

\--

“I should cut you off, you know.” Lance’s boss chuckled, Coran twirling his mustache around his fingers thoughtfully. Lance glowered up at him, hiccupping as he made grabby hands for the bottle in Coran’s hands. Coran was a kind man, eccentric, but exactly the kind of distraction Lance had needed over the past year. He kept him in line, kept him busy, and kept conversation flowing even when Lance wanted nothing more than to sulk inside himself for hours on end. “Mrs. McClain is a vicious little thing when it comes to protecting her children. She wouldn’t approve of me standing by and letting you become the town drunkard.”

“I’m an adult, I can make my own decisions.” Lance argued, puffing his chest. He turned twenty this summer, no one can even call him a teenager anymore. He pounded his hand on the bartop, laughing drunkenly at the way it echoed around the room. “Refill me!”

“Ah, maybe not today, kid.” Coran trailed off, uncertainty tracing his features. And in all their months of knowing each other, Coran had never genuinely denied him alcohol. There relationship thrived on the knowledge that they were both drunkards, both drinking to deny and dodge their pasts. 

Coran had never given specifics about his history, but he’d fallen for a married man, his employer nonetheless, only to have him disappear out of his life overnight, never to be seen again. Lance related to the story so hard the first time he heard it that he’d started to cry, and Coran was left comforting him in confusion.

“Why not?!” Lance laughed, thinking Coran was carrying on with him. He stood, making to grab for the bottle again, but someone grabbed his hand and pulled it aside. Lance scowled, turning to see his older brothers standing beside him. Their frowns practically matching.

“Lance.” Luis asked, drawing a deep breath. “What are you doing here? You didn’t even work today. It’s a Monday night. You were supposed to bring the firewood in.”

“I don’t care.” Lance stuck his tongue out at the both of them, giggling mindlessly. “I saved the farm, you guys can at least do your part and look after it.”

“Don’t be an ass.” Marco interjected, pinging him on the nose. Lance curled his hand into a fist, raising it and trying his best to look threatening. He must not have pulled it off well, because Marco simply shook his head and backed down. “Lance, you haven’t been home in four days. Where have you been staying?”

“Wherever I want.” Lance told him proudly, sticking his chin in the air. Coran was looking at him a little worriedly, like maybe he’d been sleeping here on the bartop. Lance wasn’t even that smart, instead he’d been heading down to the riverside and sleeping there. He’d set up a nice fort, made of branches and underbrush, and it kept the weather off of him. It was better than stumbling into the house at 4am to the disapproving gaze of his mother. 

He’d been extra bad lately, as the one year mark approached, the anniversary of his heartbreak. All of his best memories with Keith had happened this time of year. Just last week the harvest festival had rocked the village, better than ever with all the new residents from the mining craze, and Lance hadn’t even gone. He’d stayed at the bar, offering to work overtime just so he didn’t have to see any of it. 

“Lance, you’re gonna get yourself hurt.”

“Leave me alone! I’m not coming home!”

“Tonight?” Luis questioned.

“Ever!” Lance announced, throwing his hands up with a sense of finality. “I’m moving out.”

“Where are you possibly going to go on a part-time job wage? You can’t afford land, you can’t afford to build a house. There aren’t many options left either, with this many people visiting town.”

“The ocean.” Lance responded, leaning down to rest his head on the cooling surface of the bar. His eyes threatened to fall closed and stay that way, tiredness catching up to him all at once. He sighed happily, imagining the waves of water his father had once told him about. “I’m moving to the ocean.”

“Lance, you’re drunk.” 

“Do you have any idea how worried Mama has been lately? She’s riddled with guilt, Lance.”

“I don’t care.” Lance stated stubbornly, ignoring the fact that the tug on his heart meant he very much did care. He used to be incredibly close with his mother, especially after the loss of his other parent. She was beside him through it all, beside all of them really. She was the strongest person he’d ever known, he’d always looked up to her.

But the rift formed between them last year had only grown the longer time stretched on without him hearing from Keith. He didn’t blame her. He didn’t. He just… couldn’t look her in the eye without feeling hurt by it. He knew she felt guilty. He didn’t blame her. But he couldn’t tell her that, didn’t have the words to say it. How could he forgive her without acknowledging that he’d come to terms with Keith’s absence from his life? He hadn’t! He never would.

Luis attempted to lift him out of his seat and Lance threw a couple clumsy punches, protesting loudly.

“Get off of me!” Lance hollered, stumbling on his feet. “Let me be my own person!”

“Fine, we’ll leave you here, idiot.” Marco said, shoving Lance back down onto the bar stool. Lance opened his mouth to protest the name-calling, but instead Marco shoved a handful of coins into his hands, curling his fingers around them to make sure Lance wouldn’t drop them in his drunken stupor state. “Here, get yourself another drink. You want to drink yourself to death and spit in the face of everyone who still cares about you, be my fucking guest. I guess we’re not good enough, huh? Guess we’re worthless compared to your stupid ex-boyfriend. I hope he does come back, Lance, just so he can look at what you’ve become with disappointment and leave again. You’re not fit for anyone to want right now.”

“Marco!” Luis cried out, watching his brother storm out of the bar. Luis fell into the seat next to Lance, burying his face in his hands and muttering words under his breath. He sat up eventually, looking over at Lance with so much pity it was almost sickening. “He didn’t mean all of that. Honest. He’s just working through his own problems. You’re really… tearing the whole family apart. We don’t know what to do to cope with this.”

“I’m not going to apologize.”

“I know, Lance, I know.” Luis sighed, getting to his feet. “I won’t pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do. Just, try not to do anything stupid? If you get into trouble, just know we’re still here for you.”

“Stupid things are all I know how to do.” Lance muttered quietly, sinking back down to place his head in his arms. He watched Luis leave, heaving a heavy breath. Coran had puttered off to give his family some space to work out their issues, so Lance was left alone with his thoughts. He had no choice but to replay Marco’s words in his head, let the guilt and the anger roll over in his stomach, steep into something sickening and vile. He hated what he’d become just as much as anyone else. Keith probably would hate it too, if he knew. But how could he change now?

To change what he was, he’d have to start over. Everyone here already looked at him with such pity, such predetermined expectations for who he was. No, if he wanted to change, he’d have to become someone else entirely, somewhere where no one knew who he already was. 

Wouldn’t that be nice… for no one to know him.

\--

Lance awoke to the ground moving beneath him, his head spinning and his stomach rolling with nausea so intense he thought for sure he was going to be sick. He wondered if he was still drunk, as he sat up and cracked open his eyes in confusion. He was in a pile of hay, which wasn’t that unlikely of a place to wake up after a night of drinking. What was more unlikely was the white tarp stretched over him, almost like he was-

Lance woke up real fast then, realizing he was in the back of a moving wagon.

“Where am I?” Lance gasped under his breath, peeking out the back of the wagon. Behind them, there was nothing but a long narrow path, winding through a heavily wooded area. No sign of houses anywhere, just trees and more trees. Lance felt panic growing in his chest, scrambling instead to the front of the wagon and poking his head out. The driver is a middle-aged man, holding the reins to his horses and humming under his breath. 

Lance grabbed him by the throat, urgency overtaking him. “Hey! Where are you taking me?!”

“Ocean!” The man cried out, struggling not to tug on the horse reins. “I said I was headed in that direction and you asked to tag along as far as I could take you toward the ocean. I didn’t ask questions, you threw money in my hand and I went along with it. I figured you were a criminal on the run!”

Lance let go, falling back on his butt in the hay. His head was still spinning, now more-so than before somehow. He buried his face in his hands, beginning to hyperventilate. This couldn’t be happening, it had to be a prank of some kind. His brothers were mad at him the night before, he vaguely remembers, maybe they snapped and pulled a prank on him to try and knock some sense into him.

“How long have I been out?”

“Fifteen hours.” The man said, thoughtful. “Give or take.”

Fifteen hours. Fifteen hours of traveling away from home. They were probably in the thick of the lowlands now, where creatures of all kinds of nightmarish realities lurked. It was indescribably risky to travel in a lone carriage through this area, but this man must have been an idiot or a seasoned traveler, because he didn’t seem worried. Lance set down in the hay, scrubbing at his face, begging himself to wake up and realize this was all one terrible nightmare. He couldn’t wake up.

“I’m so stupid.” 

“You don’t want to go?”

“Obviously!” Lance yelled back at him, startling the horses the slightest bit. He was too worked up to really care though, fighting the urge to just pounce out of the wagon and start walking home. He’d never survive the trip, as it was he was surprised to be alive after fifteen hours of traveling alone. “I can’t just leave my life behind.”

“You didn’t seem particularly happy with it last night.”

“I was drunk!” Lance shouted in his own defense. Then, he hesitated, realization setting in. “I was drunk because I was unhappy with it.”

“Are you coming or not? If you hold me up too much, I won’t make it to the next rest stop before dark. I won’t stay out after dark.” The man said plainly, looking back at him. 

“I… don’t know.” 

“You said you wanted to see the ocean, didn’t you? You made it sound very important.” The man reminded him, smiling kindly. He was missing a few teeth, Lance couldn’t help but notice. He wondered what about this man had appealed to him so much in his drunken state that he’d climbed right into his wagon, risks be damned. “You also mentioned a guy you were gonna meet there? Keith?”

Lance flinched at the mention of the name alone. Of course he was babbling on about Keith while he was being a drunken idiot, that was only typical. He associated Keith as heavily with the ocean as he’d once associated his father, of course he played a role in this.

“No, there’s no one waiting for me there.” Lance clarified. But, then he looked back at the long winding path behind them and sighed. “There’s also no one coming for me back there.”

“Well?”

“I’m gonna go.” Lance decided aloud, nodding his head firmly. He could already sense he might regret this decision later, but he figured it was the only real option. He couldn’t walk himself back to safety, he might as well take the risk and hope for the best. “I’m not gonna wait my entire life for someone that isn’t coming back. I’ll take  _ myself _ to see the ocean.”

“I can continue on, then?”

“Yeah.” Lance sighed. He turned around, settling down into the hay to think this over, despite how difficult it would be with a pounding headache. He mumbled under his breath. “It doesn’t have to be forever. I can see it, make enough money for the trip back, and then go home.”

\--

“Why are they screaming!?” The woman on the front of the wagon shouted, growing increasingly more annoyed with the toddlers in the back. Lance had been trying to keep them quiet most of the trip, but at this point they were bawling and showing no signs of stopping. He was growing panicked, hoping he wouldn’t be kicked off. After his first driver had taken him as far as he was going, Lance had been forced to find more people to transport him, to get him the rest of the way to the ocean.

He’d been with a couple different families now, but this one was particularly brutal with their expectations of him. He took care of all the kids, seven children under ten years old, two of which being newborn twins. He had a new respect for his mother, that much was for sure.

“I think they’re hungry.” Lance explained, looking toward her hopefully. “Do you have something I could give them or?”

He knew there food supply had been running dangerously low, they’d been discussing recently if it would even carry them the rest of the trip. He almost felt bad to ask, but the babies clearly needed it. She huffed at him, climbing into the back of the wagon and taking them off his hands. He sat back with a sigh, into the pile of sleeping children he’d lulled to sleep earlier.

In the distance, wolves were howling, a harrowing terrifying noise. Lance could only hope they could slip through the next stretch undetected. He also hoped they were normal wolves, not shifters hiding in the woods, waiting on fresh prey.

The only good news was that he didn’t have the money or the access to liquor anymore and was weaning off of it whether he wanted to or not.

\--

The next traveler Lance hitched a ride with was a maniac, Lance was sure of that. His name was Shiro and he was a man with a death wish. A self-proclaimed vampire hunter, traveling through the lowlands in search of danger, rather than biting his tongue and trying to slip through undetected. Lance sat next to him at the front of the wagon, listening to miraculous stories of creatures he’d slain in the past.

Lance wasn’t sure how much he believed, but the man was certainly scarred up from something and he’d somehow lived to tell the tales. 

\--

Lance was so used to life on the road at this point, he’d almost forgotten he had a destination in mind in the beginning of his journey. What would have been the dead of winter up in his mountaintop village, was a cool late autumn temperature down in the lowlands. Lance was unmistakably thankful for that, uncertain he could handle anything more than that. Wagons didn’t exactly provide much cover from the cold or the heat.

The woman he was traveling with now was a strange character, almost entirely mute and carrying a cargo of chickens from village to village, attempting to sell them to farmers. 

“We’re almost there.” The woman said, out of nowhere. She’d spent the past six days in complete silence so hearing her voice for the first time since setting out on their journey had Lance jumping. He turned to her in confusion, staring straight ahead in search of literally any sign that they were near their destination. As far as he could tell, it was still forest as far as the eye could see. 

The ocean was supposed to be huge, surely he would see it or hear it long before he was upon it.

“How do you know?” Lance asked, trying to hide the fact he obviously thought she was lying. She turned to look at him, lips curling up knowingly. Lance shivered uncomfortably in his seat.

“Just do. You can feel it when the air changes. Can’t you taste the salt?”

“I guess so?” Lance tried inhaling deeply, sticking his tongue out, the whole nine yards. It was still just air, he wasn’t entirely sure she was sane after spending so much of her life in silence, but the air did seem cleaner here. He inhaled over and over again, immediately addicted to the small difference.

They were close, huh? Assuming she was telling the truth, how close could they be?

\--

The next morning Lance awoke to a hand jostling him, an annoying pressure to say the least. He tried to roll away from the touch, but it only grew more insistent. He lifted his head and yawned, fully prepared to have children shoved at him to babysit after the two weeks he’d spent with that family. Instead, the hand gripped his jaw and turned it in the opposite direction. His eyes blinked open in confusion, squinting at the bright beams of sun beating down on his face.

Eventually, what he was looking at came into focus, and his breath caught.

“It’s so beautiful.” Lance felt like he was going to tear up, his heart hammering away in his chest. He stumbled to his feet, shakily climbing down from the wagon. He couldn’t tear his gaze off of it, not even to turn back to the woman and thank her for letting him travel alongside her. He stared at the lapping waves hitting the beach, a frothy line formed in the sand behind them. 

He couldn’t wrap his mind around what he was looking at, not fully. He needed to run down the beach, to touch it, to feel the salty water on his hands. God, it smelled so strong here, salt so intense his skin seemed fresher than ever before as it settled over him.

“Go on, then. I know you’ve been waiting for this for a long while.” The woman said, hand settling on his shoulder and giving him a gentle shove. He laughed breathlessly, turning back to her and offering a quick goodbye smile. She just shook her head, waving him off. 

He took off running. He didn’t have any belongings to his name to gather, only the clothes on his back, but that was enough. Because he had this, the massive shining blue of the ocean, the soft sand beneath his shoes. Come to think of it, he kicked his shoes off and sunk his bare feet into it instead, just like his father had told him stories of. He grinned contentedly, pausing for only a moment before running the rest of the way down the beach. He fell into the water like a fish dying for the relief it brought, flopping gracelessly in face-first.

\--

“Um, hey, are you okay?” Someone asked, to the left of where Lance was starfished out across the sand, lower half in the water and slowly being engulfed more as the tide came crashing in. Lance didn’t even bother to open his eyes, just grinned goofily and nodded his head. There was no need for anyone to worry about him now, he was good. He was so good. 

“I’ve never been better.” 

“You look… homeless and hungry.” The man argued gently, like this information might come as a shock to Lance. It sort-of did, in all honesty, given he’d forgotten about anything to do with his own life the second he saw the ocean. He’d spent the entire day on the beach and the sun was slowly disappearing now. He sat up slowly, opening his eyes to stare scrutinizingly up at the stranger.

He seemed kind, smiling wide and bright down at Lance. He seemed a lot kinder than most of the people Lance had been entrusting with his life as of late. He took the hand that was being held out to him, clasping his hand onto the stranger’s and lifting himself up.

“You live here? You get to see this view every single day?” Lance asked him, still stunned that anyone could live here and not spend all of their days plastered to the beach. The man quirked a bushy eyebrow at him. He was different from most of the pale-skinned and light haired people from the mountains, he resembled Lance’s father’s side of the family more, with dark skin and black hair falling in his eyes.

“I do.” The man trailed off, still looking concerned. “Are you sure you’re good? You seem spacey.”

Lance turned back to the ocean with a slight pout. It was starting to get dark outside. The climate was considerably warmer here though, so much so that it was impossible to tell it was winter. He could have comfortably stayed on the beach all night. Except for his rumbling stomach. 

He didn’t want to leave the water, but if he fancied staying alive to enjoy it for longer, he’d better.

“Do you know of a place where I can stay? Just until I get on my feet again?” Lance asked, turning back to the stranger curiously. “Near the beach! It has to be near the beach, as close as possible.”

“What is it? Drugs?” 

“No, nothing like that.” Lance huffed, the slightest bit offended by the obvious accusation. He’d been completely sober for weeks now, it was just something about finally fulfilling his lifelong dream that had him riding higher than anything ever would. He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m starting over. I left everything behind. It was my dream to see the ocean and now I am, all on my own.”

“Yeah?” The man hummed, eyes raking over Lance in deep thought. Finally, he extended his hand again, this time to shake Lance’s with a firm, friendly grip. “I’m Hunk.”

“Lance.”

“I have an extra room at my place, but you’ll have to work to earn your keep. What do you think?”

“Sounds great.” Lance agreed immediately, not one to be picky after all the things he’d done to get here in the first place. It couldn’t be as bad as babysitting that many kids in the back of a single wagon, or listening to story after story from Shiro while he sat there in fear. Hunk regarded him with an impressed nod, and then turned to walk down the beach.

Lance followed him, snatching his shoes up as he went. “Thank-you, really.”

“Don’t make me regret it.” Hunk warned him, but even when he was trying to seem intimidating there was an air of understanding about him. Lance already got the impression that Hunk was an easy going guy, would probably let him get away with a lot before it became a serious argument. “You’re not the first strange man I’ve found on the beach so I’m rightfully wary this time around.”

“Noted.”

Lance didn’t try to ask what the last man had done, figured it was better left unspoken if the disgusted shiver that crawled up Hunk’s spine was anything to go by. Strange men on the beach are a no-go, good to know. He’d keep that in mind, surely.

\--

As it turned out, Hunk owned his own restaurant. Lance had stumbled across maybe the best place imaginable for him, after weeks on the road without a steady source of food. That first night he nearly threatened to eat Hunk straight out of business, but Hunk never once complained. He just kept cooking, chatting casually about the local village and telling Lance all the things he should know. Every now and then he’d stop to set a plate down in front of Lance, but then he’d turn back to the stove again.

Lance ate away, listening avidly to Hunk’s stories. He figured he wouldn’t mind living here for a while. He still had intentions of eventually going back to his family, but in the meantime while he was earning the money to… he’d enjoy this.

\--

A few weeks passed without any trouble. Actually, Lance was finding that he quite enjoyed his time with Hunk, almost as much as he liked spending all of his free time walking along the beach, basking in the sun, collecting shells, swimming in the saltwater. When the sun set and he came home to spend some time with Hunk, it never felt like a disappointment. The big guy was just too much fun, too sweet for his own good. Lance realized now how the last beach hermit had taken advantage of Hunk, he didn’t have a mean bone in his body.

He wasn’t stupid though, far from it actually. He was a genius at running a business, had built this one from the ground up when he rode into town with nothing to his name. He was a damn hard worker, money savvy, and the things he could bake were unreal. Lance was endlessly impressed by him, it inspired him to gain some aspirations of his own, to start thinking about what his future would be beyond just spending it with Keith.

His experience as a bartender back home certainly helped him here, as he helped Hunk run the restaurant and the bar alike. He became a waiter, serving the tables to give Hunk more time to work on cooking without interrupting himself. Lance had no idea how he’d managed this place all on his own before, it seemed impossible.

He was definitely going to feel bad if he went home and had to leave Hunk alone again.

\--

“So, what was it?” Hunk asked out of nowhere, one night about a month after Lance had first arrived and they’d met each other on the beach. The restaurant had closed for the night an hour ago, but they were still gathered in the kitchen washing dishes and preparing things for opening tomorrow morning. It really was an around-the-clock job for Hunk, who spent any free time baking goods to sell the next day. At least Lance got a few hours off most evenings.

“Hm?”

“What was the final straw that made you give everything up and come here instead?” Hunk clarified, tossing the rag he’d been scrubbing the bar with aside. He focused fully on Lance, his gaze unwavering as Lance scrubbed nervously at the plate in his hands. Lance didn’t offer anything, so Hunk decided to continue the one-sided conversation on his own. “It was my parents, for me. They both passed away near the same time. I’d been taking care of them for months, I didn’t know what to do with myself without them. So… I left. I needed to be my own person and I couldn’t do it living in the shadows they left behind.”

“Oh.”

“My father was the best cook in the kingdom, my mother the best baker. God, the sweets she could make, she served the Altean king once, you know? Wild.” Hunk mused, tipping his head back with a reminiscent sigh. “Hard to believe we were still under Altean rule in her lifetime. All I’ve ever known is the Galran era.”

“My father died at war for the Galra family. I can’t wait for the day the current king falls.” Lance blurted, a force of habit at this point. Hunk spun around to gape at him, a nervous laugh bubbling out of his throat and filling the room.

“Lance!” Hunk shook his head in exasperation, but the smile on his face was undeniable. Lance didn’t regret what he’d said. He meant it. “Well, I don’t think anyone is particularly fond of the royal family, but you shouldn’t say it as plainly as that. Someone might turn you in for treason.”

They settled into a comfortable silence again then, working steadily at their respective responsibilities as the night grew long. Lance found himself thinking about the short exchange a lot though, thinking about how hard it must have been for Hunk to open up about the hardest part of his life. And sure, Lance had shared something in return, but it wasn’t the same.

“It wasn’t my father’s death that drove me away from home.” Lance said suddenly, when he couldn’t hold it back any longer. “That hurt… it took me years to deal with that hurt. But I had the rest of my family there for me through all of it. I was never alone.”

“What was it, then?”

“A boy.” Lance admitted, his heart doing a helpless flip flop even still at the thought of Keith. It wasn’t often that he allowed himself time to think lately, but whenever he was alone with nothing to do, that same face would always haunt his thoughts. He was sure at this point that he’d never fully get over Keith. He’d be an old bachelor, alone with a wagon full of chickens, probably still remembering his glory days when he’d held the love of his life. 

“A boy?”

“A proper tragic love story. We had everything right, we wanted it so badly it hurt, but the world just wasn’t on our side. There were so many obstacles outside of our control. Our families never would have allowed it. My mother forbade me from seeing him. I hadn’t seen him in a year and it just felt like I needed to get out of there, I couldn’t fucking think about him anymore, it was killing me.”

“Oh, Lance.”

“And, obviously he isn’t dead, it isn’t really comparable to losing my father.” Lance scrubbed a hand over his face, uncaring that it was covered in dirty dishwater. “But… I didn’t have my family this time around? They tried, but I couldn’t look at them the same. I couldn’t rely on anyone, I just wanted to be alone with my misery. I became a drunk at the local tavern, anything to get him off my mind. None of it worked. So… I came here.”

Lance sat heavy with the confession after he’d finished speaking, even walking around the bar to slide onto one of the stools. Hunk came around to stand behind him, hands settling on Lance’s shoulders and giving them a gentle massage. Lance smiled into his arms, but it was weak and strained. He didn’t bother trying to look up at Hunk and force the expression, knew that Hunk would see right through it.

He was a good friend, too good for Lance really.

“Well, I’m rooting for you two. I’m sure you’ll see him again someday.”

“Thanks, Hunk, but I don’t think so.” Lance sighed, his eyes stinging heavily. It still felt like too raw of a topic, too sensitive of an issue to even begin to explain. It’d been over a year now! Was it ever going to get easier to live with? “I’m just happy with the time we did have together, at this point.”

“That’s so sad!” Hunk cried, slumping over Lance’s back in a tight hug. Lance leaned back against the other boy’s chest, shaking his head dismissively. “You can’t give up, what if he’s your soulmate?”

“I guess we got dealt the unlucky hand.”

\--

Time seemed to pass faster in the seaside village Lance now called home, somehow. The days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. Before Lance knew it, winter had passed and spring with it, and they were in the hottest months of the year. It was hotter than things had ever been in his hometown and he spent most of his time in shorts, not even bothering with a shirt unless he was at work.

Speaking of work, he was falling into his role there swimmingly. He could recognize all of the regulars now, had memorized the usual orders, and even noticed a lot of new customers arriving during the summer months. Business was booming and if it weren’t for having Lance around, Hunk would be worked off his feet by now. As it was, he was so stressed he was practically a ball of sweat running around the kitchen.

Lance picked up the latest meal with careful grace, leaning in to give Hunk a comforting kiss on the cheek. The other man flashed him a knowing smile.

“What are you wasting your time with me for? Get out there and charm the customers, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lance rolled his eyes, strolling out into the seating area and placing the heaping turkey dinner down in front of one of the newest arrivals. He flashed them a wide smile and told them to enjoy their meal, and then he was off again. Lance turned on his heel, noticing another group had arrived while he was in the kitchen. He recognized them immediately.

“Matt!” Lance greeted warmly, sliding into the seat next to the familiar face and resting his feet for just a moment. He leaned into Matt’s side, throwing an arm around his shoulders and greeting him with a warmth that wasn’t exactly typical of all their customers. They were friends, though, had been since Shiro the vampire hunter walked into the bar toting Matt along with him one night, and introduced him as his apprentice. Matt didn’t seem like he was capable of killing anything, much less a vampire.

“Hey, Lance.” Matt grinned, shoving back against him until they were both slumped into each other’s sides for support. Lance laughed bright and airy, nodding at Shiro where he sat across the table.

“What are you guys doing? Just passing through? You know you’re always welcome to our couch if you need a place to stay again.” 

“We can’t stay long, we’re off to visit Matt’s sister soon.” Shiro explained, as he browsed the menu. Matt had given up his menu entirely in favor of concentrating on Lance, eyes glued to his every reaction.

“Aw, bummer. You should stop back in when you’re passing back through, though.”

“We might have to.” Shiro reasoned, a lopsided little smile on his face as he glanced between the two of them. Matt kicked him under the table loud enough for the thud to be audible. Lance was bemused, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion as he looked between the two of them.

“I think we both know what we want.” Matt said, changing the subject. Lance dug out his notepad, scribbling down the order as they listed it off. He kept glancing up through his bangs, making eye contact with Matt and flashing him smile after smile. “Make sure to come back and ask us about dessert, huh?”

“You bet.” Lance agreed easily, giving him a playful shove as he headed off toward the kitchen to bring the order in to Hunk. He practically bounced the whole way there, a smile plastered across his face so bright that the whole room seemed lighter. He strolled into the kitchen, placing the order on the stack and then turning to Hunk. He eyed the chili he was making, sighing hungrily.

“Hey, you should take a break. You’ve been working all day.” 

“It’s fine.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion, Lance.” Hunk leveled him with a look of seriousness. Lance sighed petulantly, not fond of being told what to do even if it was coming from someone he trusted and cared about more than anyone else. Hunk was too nurturing sometimes, it bordered on smothering. It… reminded Lance of his mother, who he hadn’t seen in half a year. It made his heart hurt.

“I’m fine, I swear!”

“Take your pay out of the register. Then go take care of yourself.”

“Alright.” Lance caved, shoulders slumping in defeat. It wasn’t often that Hunk adopted that sense of finality to his words, but Lance knew by now that it wasn’t to be messed with. Hunk took his role as caretaker very seriously, even now that he was sure Lance wasn’t another drugged-out guy in need of guidance from the beach.

“I noticed your friends are here again, the vampire hunter ones with death wishes. Why don’t you go sit down and eat with them? I can handle this on my own, the busy hour has tapered off.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t want to impose on them.” Lance bit his lip, glancing over the bar and to where his friends were chatting away. Matt turned around, eyes searching the room, and he lit up in a wave and smile when his gaze found Lance’s. Lance waved shyly back at him. 

“Come on, Lance. They’re practically inviting you right now.” Hunk said, wiping his hands off on his apron as he came to stand beside Lance. He nudged him with his elbow, eyes sparkling with intent. Lance glared back at him.

“Fine, but I’m only eating a meal with them, then I’m going back to work.”

“Sounds good to me.” Hunk relented, gesturing grandly to where the others were.

Lance headed out and slid into his earlier spot next to Matt, the table falling into a conversation about their latest monster-hunting crusade. Lance listened avidly, always interested to hear what they were up to, still in a state of disbelief that there were really humans willing to head into the lowlands in search of monsters. Lance still remembered the horrifying nights while he traveled through the lowlands between communities. He couldn’t imagine going back again, it was part of the reason he kept putting off the trip home. He wasn’t sure he would survive it.

After enjoying a nice meal together, Lance hopped up and brushed himself off. He was already ready to get straight back into work, impatient for it even. 

“I nearly forgot. What were you guys wanting for dessert? Our blueberry pie is practically fresh out of the oven and-”

“I was thinking something a little different. Something that isn’t on the menu.” Matt said, suiting Lance with one of those strange looks. He’d been giving them out left and right, the entire dinner they’d spent together. He just kept looking at Lance with this constipated pout, lost in thoughts no doubt, but Lance felt uneasy all the same. “This might be too forward, but I have to ask. Can I buy you a drink?”

“M-Me?”

“I don’t come here every chance I get to see anyone else.” Matt said, brushing his hair back. He leaned closer to where Lance was standing beside the table, reaching to grab Lance’s hand. Lance stared down at the embrace, eyes wide as saucers. He couldn’t believe this was happening. 

Sure, he realized he was somewhat conventionally attractive now that he wasn’t a drunken mess and he was back to looking like his healthy self from spending so much time outdoors, but... no one had ever tried to come onto him this strongly before. It was always the passing comment from patrons at the bar, maybe a flirty one-liner. No one had asked him out plainly before. He couldn’t exactly dodge this question without giving an answer.

“You should hear the way he begs me to stop here whenever we’re in the area. It’s beyond annoying.”

“Shiro!” Matt cried, outraged clearly. Shiro just continued to grin, as he scanned the menu again and debated what he wanted for dessert. Matt slumped in defeat, turning bashfully back to Lance. He was expecting an answer. Lance didn’t know what the hell to say!

Sure, he loved spending time with Matt, they got along great and found themselves constantly laughing, but… it wasn’t the same feeling Lance had felt with Keith. He was starting to come to terms with the fact that he might not ever feel that way for another person, but he was far from being ready to accept anything less. He would rather be alone than settle for someone that wasn’t Keith.

“I’m sorry, tonight isn’t a good time.” Lance said, reluctantly. Matt looked devastated for a split second, but quickly wiped the expression was wiped from his face and replaced with something more determined. Lance was reminded again of how alike they were in some ways. 

“Next time I’m in town, then?”

“I’m taken. Sorry.” Lance said plainly, because he figured it would be the quickest and most painless way to end this conversation. It wasn’t open to negotiation, his answer wasn’t going to change with time. He… he’d had time, lots of it, almost two years worth… and he was no more over Keith now than he had been the day he left.

“Oh?” Matt asked, eyebrows raising. Then, his gaze drifted in the direction of the kitchen. “ _ Hunk _ ?”

“No, not Hunk.” Lance smiled fondly, shaking his head. “Someone else. You haven’t met him.”

“You can just say you’re not interested, Lance. I won’t be offended.” Matt came out and said with a fond huff, shaking his head slowly. He looked up at Lance with a dimpled grin, impish in nature. “I’m not going to pressure you into anything. I’m your friend before anything else, Lance. Whatever happens between us happens on your terms. Always.”

“Hey, my shift is actually over so I’m gonna head out of here. I’ll see you guys again soon, alright?” Lance all but squeaked, turning and practically running away from the exchange with his tail between his legs, a coward as usual. He ducked into the kitchen with his face on fire, hurrying over to Hunk and collapsing against his back. 

“Matt asked me out.”

“He asked you out?!” Hunk nearly sent a pan full of meat clattering to the ground in his excitement. He whirled around to face Lance, shaking his shoulders. “You should say yes! You never know where it could go! Maybe he’d get your mind off of-”

Hunk must have noticed something in Lance’s expression because suddenly the pep talk was over, replaced by the most sympathetic of frowns. He gathered Lance into a hug, wordlessly. Lance shuddered against him, trying not to cry. He’d cried on Hunk’s shoulder far too many times in the past for this very reason, surely Hunk was getting tired with it by now.

“I’m an idiot, I know. You don’t have to say it.”

“You’re not.” Hunk said stubbornly, frowning at Lance’s negative self-talk. “You’re just a very loving, loyal person who deserves the world. If Keith doesn’t get his act together and come back for you soon, I’ll have to marry you myself.”

“He doesn’t even know where I’m at, Hunk.”

“No excuse. I would cross kingdoms to find you if you went missing from my life.”

Lance sighed, long and forlorn, tipping his head back to stare up at the ceiling. His heart still clenched uncomfortably tight in his chest at the thought of Keith coming looking for him, desperate to find him. He wanted that so badly it hurt. Even after all this time...

\--

Lance laid out in the moonlight, stretched across a blanket on the beach. He listened to the calming lap of the waves, the quiet night life of crickets chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. He was completely and utterly at peace, staring up at the stars overhead. He’d been here for hours now, had only come out here to watch the sunset and then hadn’t been able to bring himself to leave. The view was no less prettier now that the sun had disappeared and thousands of stars had taken its place.

Hunk would come looking for him soon, Lance was sure of it. It was particularly late and Hunk always tended to worry when he didn’t come back. Lance wasn’t sure yet what it was he was so worried about, that Lance might run into trouble or that he might go back to drinking again. Either way, Hunk worried, he hovered, and sometimes Lance needed that. 

When Lance was upset and couldn’t bear to be with himself, let alone with other people. Those were the times he needed Hunk’s stubborn form of love more than ever. When he would protest and complain, but Hunk would drag him back home all the same and keep him from turning to a bottle to drown his problems in. Hunk was needed then.

Right now though, Lance wasn’t feeling anything but contentment staring up at the sky. He’d had a good week, a good month really. Fall was just around the corner and he was excited to spend his first harvest festival in another village, see the differences in the celebration. Sure, it marked two years since he’d last seen Keith, but… he tried not to think about that too much. He wouldn’t let himself.

Eventually, when Lance’s thoughts turned in that direction and refused to go anywhere else, he forced himself to roll onto his feet. He picked up his blanket and whipped the sand off of it, slinging it over his shoulder and starting barefoot back to the restaurant. He was tired, hadn’t realized it until this very moment, when a yawn bellowed past his lips.

He was just about off the beach when a cloud swept over the moon, blanketing the whole town in complete darkness. Lance squinted, trying to make out the familiar path ahead of him. He had it mostly memorized at this point, he could probably continue on even without the moonlight to guide him-

“Run! Run for your lives!” A scream rang out through the village, ear-splitting and terrified. Lance stumbled and fell back on his ass in the sand, cowering in confusion. He picked his head up, as the shadow overhead passed and the area was alight again. “Dragon! There’s a dragon attacking the town!”

“Wh-” Lance couldn’t believe his ears.

He jumped to his feet, staring wide-eyed at the sky. Sure enough, there were no clouds in sight, but there was a shadow sweeping through the sky. Lance stared in awestruck silence, amazed beyond words. The dragon was big, probably too big to be Keith, even though Lance desperately wished for it to be.

As it flew to the other side of the village, Lance scrambled helplessly after it. He ran down the beach with his head tipped back, eyes on the sky overhead and trying to keep his sights on the beast. It was surprisingly difficult, even with its impressive size. It was fast, skilled at flying too as it dipped low and flew between houses. It wasn’t attacking either, there was no flames, just panic in the streets. It was almost more like it was searching… for something.

Lance didn’t dare to hope. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. The pain it would bring if he was wrong would be unbearable, unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

And still, he kept running clumsily after the dragon. It was impossible to keep up with it on foot, but he managed to keep his eyes on it for the most part. His heart was racing in his chest, his hopes soaring despite common sense telling him to give it up already.

It was starting to look like the dragon had finished circling and was going to fly back off into the forest, when its head suddenly whipped around to look behind itself. It was low enough now that Lance could make the purple glow of its eyes. Lance swallowed. It couldn’t be...

“Lance! Run!” Lance forcibly tore his eyes off of the dragon for the first time since spotting it, turning to where Hunk was running at him with arms flying through the air. Lance braced himself for impact just seconds before Hunk crashed into him, plowing them both down into the sand. He stayed braced over Lance, trying to press them as tightly to the ground as possible. “What the hell are you doing?! Don’t just stand there! It will see you!”

“Hunk?” Lance wheezed, trying to claw his way out from under him. What if it was Keith?! He couldn’t let him get away, he had to make sure he knew Lance was here, he had to-

“I’ve got you, buddy, if that thing wants to eat you it can go through me first!” Hunk hollered, no doubt trying to comfort Lance, misinterpreting his dazed state as a panic attack of some sort. Lance was prone to them sometimes, when he was in a bad headspace and everything added up. This wasn’t that. He wasn’t anywhere near panicking. What he was feeling was more akin to elation. 

Hunk leaned in, whispering in his ear. “My hope is that I’ll satisfy it’s appetite and it won’t even want to eat you.”

“No, Hunk, it’s not like that. I know-”

“I get it if you don’t feel the same, but you’re the best friend I’ve ever had and I’ll be damned if I let some dragon bite you in half.” Hunk muttered hurriedly, looking over his shoulder and relaxing slightly. As he relaxed, Lance’s heart dropped. That meant the dragon hadn’t come down after them, probably didn’t recognize Lance after all when their eyes met. “Besides, what would my business be without you now?”

“You’re my best friend, too.” Lance said, his squirming finally getting across. Hunk sat back, pulling them both onto their feet and brushing the sand off himself. Hunk smiled over at Lance, something soft and personal. He reached his hand out and Lance took it, threading their fingers together.

“Thanks, man. Now let’s get out of here before that thing circles back.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Lance mumbled, tripping over his feet as Hunk pulled him along. His gaze was elsewhere, glued to the sky overhead as he desperately searched for any sign of the dragon. His face fell when he kept coming up short, finding nothing but stars. The panic in the village had settled down too, so more likely than not, the dragon had moved on. Lance tried not to feel the soul-shattering disappointment that realization brought with it.

It obviously wasn’t even Keith, why would it be? Keith was probably still at home in his castles, days and days of traveling away from here, and-

The ground shook and this time Lance fell face-first forward. Hunk went down too, crashing into the sand and nearly eating a mouthful of it when he let out a scream. Lance followed his line of sight, to the space just a few steps in front of them. The feet were massive, talons as big as Lance’s arm. Lance’s gaze trailed steadily, nervously, hopefully upward. Up, up, up, the body of the beast just kept on going. God, this thing was huge. It towered a good twenty feet above them where they laid in the sand. 

Was this Krolia? Could it be? What would she be doing here? Coming after him years after she found out about his existence?

Finally, Lance’s gaze reached the head of the dragon. His breath caught in his throat. The dragon was already staring back at him, eyes wide and deeply purple, so achingly familiar that Lance’s own scream was immediately forgotten. His body threatened to betray him, to start crying then and there, a relieved sob on the very verge of breaking free.

The dragon leaned forward, neck careening outward until it was settling its head in the sand in front of Lance. It inched closer, nose settling in Lance’s lap, the heat of its nostrils bordering on burning. Lance tried to scramble away, but the dragon just followed him backward. With a heavy exhale, a wave of smoke blew into Lance’s face. And then, an absolutely massive forked tongue swept out of nowhere, licking up the entirety of Lance’s chest and face in one foul swoop.

The scream Lance had swallowed before resurfaced now. Outraged and overjoyed alike.

“Gross! Keith!” Lance screeched, lifting his shirt to desperately try and scrub the saliva off. 

“ _ Lance _ .” Oh, how nice it was to hear that voice again, even if it was only inside his mind and not aloud yet. Lance smiled dopily back at the dragon, watching as its lips curled back in a smile of its own, showing off how much those pearly white fangs had grown. Keith was huge now! A full-sized dragon nearly!

“Keith.” Lance repeated, giggly with it, his face alight with happiness. He couldn’t believe it, he really couldn’t. Even as Keith took a shuddering step closer, nose pressing into Lance’s chest more insistently and sending him toppling over backwards. Keith kept nudging him though, face rubbing all over Lance’s chest, between his legs, anywhere it could reasonably reach. It wasn’t unlike a cat rubbing up against its owner, except it came paired with a heat so strong it left Lance’s clothes warm to the touch.

“I missed you, I missed you so much, every single day.” Keith’s voice crooned in his head, soft and emotional, like Keith himself would be on the verge of tears if he was capable of it in his dragon form. 

“I missed you too!” Lance laughed, breathless as Keith kept pushing him into the sand. He was unrelenting, the weight of his head almost crushing now that it was so much bigger. Lance shoved futilely back against him, but in the end he gave up and wrapped his arms around Keith’s muzzle instead, hugging him closer still. “God, I missed you so much, Keith.”

Lance squeezed his eyes shut to keep from crying, choking out a sob anyway.

“Um?” A voice spoke up behind them. Lance lifted his head, blinking rapidly as his eyes focused on Hunk. He was standing back a few feet, cowering behind a rock, looking at Lance like he’d lost his mind entirely. 

“Hunk, this is Keith!”

“Your ex-boyfriend Keith? Lance, that’s a dragon.” Hunk whispered urgently, like if he was quiet enough about it the dragon wouldn’t overhear him. Lance laughed, nodding his head, reaching out to scratch at Keith’s scales on the side of his face. Keith positively purred in response, nuzzling in closer, collapsing his body into the sand behind him. “I was just starting to feel confident you weren’t another crazy beach hermit, come on!”

Lance elected to ignore Hunk, just this once. He had way more important matters to address.

“What are you doing here? Did Krolia change her mind? Did she-” The questions flew out of Lance’s mouth rapid-fire, but he quickly realized his mistake. Keith tensed against him, eyes shutting in a pained tense expression. Lance frowned, hand smoothing out into a much gentler touch, tracing the small indentations between scales with a single fingertip now. “Keith, what’s wrong?”

“They have her.” Keith’s voice was wrecked, so heavy with emotion it was hardly recognizable. He’d never heard Keith sound so absolutely broken, like he’d given up all hope. Not even the day they’d last seen each other. Even then, Keith had been aiming for optimism. There was none of that now.

He got to his feet, rearing back and spinning around in an impatient circle. “We have to save her, we have to get her back! Lance, I have no idea what they’re gonna do to her, we have to _ - _ ”

“Calm down, deep breaths.” Lance told him, hurrying onto his feet. “Who has her?”

“The humans in the valley, the ones that built the new castle.” Keith told him, collapsing back into the sand with a quiet huff. Lance approached him again then, wrapping his arms around his neck as far as they could go and pressing his face to Keith’s smooth scales. “She finally agreed to let me go with her to the market, but I got lost. I got lost and someone tried to rob me, but they saw my horns. It was so awful. The whole village circled around me, poking at me and screaming at me. Oh, Lance, they said they wanted to kill me.”

“Keith.” Lance whispered, sympathy heavy in his voice. He hugged Keith that much tighter, like he could protect him from the whole experience if he could just fit him in his arms and hold him close.

“Obviously my mother came to my rescue, but by then the royal guards were there and she couldn’t fight them all off. They had swords! They cut her with swords before she could transform. But she held them off long enough that I could. She told me to fly as far away as I could get, to never come back.” He paused, voice cracking. “I can’t leave her there. You have to help, please, I’m begging you, pl-”

“Shh, it’s okay, we’ll figure something out.” Lance told him, his mind made up from the very beginning of the story. Of course he would help Keith, the specifics didn’t matter. “First, you need to go into the woods and transform. I want to help you, but we have to hide you first. We don’t want a repeat of what happened before.”

“I’m scared.” Keith admitted, body curling around Lance, cowering there despite his size. Lance’s frown deepened considerably, hand coming down to stroke over Keith’s horns, soothing. “I haven’t shifted back since it happened. I felt so small, Lance, they could have cut me in half with their swords.”

“I’ll come with you.” Lance offered, without hesitation.

“Like hell you will!” Hunk shouted from behind the rock. They both looked in his direction. Hunk seemed undoubtedly intimidated by the dragon staring him down, but he stumbled out and walked up to Lance anyway, careful to avoid the side of him where Keith’s head was resting. Hunk wrapped an arm around Lance’s shoulders, puffing his chest out. “You’re not going into the woods alone with a dragon, whether you can talk to it or not!”

Keith’s upper lip pulled back to show off the row of threatening teeth, a snarl ripping out of him.

“Hey! Cut it out!” Lance chastised, tugging on his horn rather harshly. Keith closed his mouth, but the growl continued to rumble low in his throat, probably beyond his control. Lance kneeled down beside his head, hands smoothing over Keith’s face as he looked him in the eye. “Hunk is my friend. I know you’ve been through a lot but show him some respect. He’s only trying to protect me.”

“I’m sorry.” Keith sighed, pushing his nose pathetically into Lance’s palm. His eyes fell closed, relishing in Lance’s touch. The growl slowly tapered off. “I’ll stand down. I know you’re not mine anymore.”

“I’m not anyone’s, just so we’re clear.” Lance said immediately, nose wrinkling in annoyance. Keith perked up immediately though, lifting his head from the ground to glance between them, at the way Hunk still had an arm wrapped around Lance. He was sizing up their relationship this entire time, Lance realized.

“He’s not your… boyfriend?” Keith tried, cocking his head to one side adorably, confusion evident. Lance turned sharply in the opposite direction, trying to hide his smitten smile. He led the way toward the tree line, gesturing for the others to follow.

“Come on.”

“I’m coming too!” Hunk shouted, jogging to walk alongside Lance rather than lingering back at Keith’s side. He fell into step easily enough, but Lance could feel it every time he glanced over, no doubt still in shock over everything that was happening. He leaned in, nudging Lance. “Are you sure he isn’t gonna eat us? He keeps glaring at me.”

“I might if he doesn’t stop asking stupid questions.” Keith commented, words meant only for Lance’s head. Lance turned around to kick sand in his face, then turned back to Hunk and placated him with a squeeze to his bicep.

“He won’t, I promise.” Lance assured him. It was only half a lie. Sure, it contradicted Keith’s words, but even without seeing him in two years Lance was confident he knew Keith well enough to know he wouldn’t do anything like that. Definitely not to someone Lance obviously cared about. 

They stopped in a small clearing and Lance turned around, hands on his hips. 

“This looks like as good a spot as any, do your thing.”

“Not while he’s watching.” Keith said, tail flicking in annoyance. 

“Hunk, turn around. He’s shy.” Lance turned to his friend with a pleading pout. Hunk did as he was asked, but he grumbled in complaint the entire time. Soon enough, Keith was standing naked in the clearing, staring hopelessly toward Lance. He looked a lot older in this form, his jaw set stronger, his hair much longer and falling past his shoulders, his eyes filled with knowledge beyond his years. 

Lance shrugged off his jacket and approached him, holding it out. He clasped his hands between his legs, trying in vain to cover himself, but he had to give that up in order to take the proffered jacket. And god, Lance was trying to be polite and not look twice, but damn if it didn’t look like both of his cocks had doubled in size too. 

As soon as Keith was dressed, he stumbled forward and threw his arms around Lance. Lance hugged him back much easier in this form, holding his middle so tightly that he was sure it would be painful if Keith didn’t have the strength of a dragon for defense. Lance nuzzled into Keith’s air, whispering quiet encouragement and reassurances. Keith sniffled wetly into his shoulder, trembling. 

“Lance, I-” Keith’s voice was terrified, panic so high that it was almost tangible.

“I know, I know.” Lance assured him, pressing a kiss to his temple. “It’s okay, no one’s gonna get near you while I’m around. You’re safe. I got you.”

“Oh, geez.” Hunk mumbled from somewhere behind them, coming up to look Keith over in shock. He turned to Lance with helplessly wide eyes. “This is the dragon? From before? I think I’m gonna pass out.”

“Not now, Hunk.” Lance told him, giving him a punch to the shoulder. Keith didn’t lift his head from the crook of Lance’s neck the entire time he spoke to someone else. “This is Keith. He needs a place to stay, is that okay?”

“He’s staying in your room, not mine.”

“I assumed as much.” Lance laughed, hugging Keith closer by his grip on the boy’s waist. He led him out of the clearing, holding him impossibly close the entire time. “Come on. Let’s get you inside, Keith.”

\--

“What is this place?” Keith asked, as Lance dug through his wardrobe to find Keith a more comfortable outfit to wear. He was sitting in Lance’s bed, blankets gathered around his shoulders as his eyes scanned the room, taking in his surroundings curiously. Lance turned around, tossing him a pair of pajama pants and an oversized sleep-shirt Lance had once stolen from Hunk.

“This is where I’ve been staying for the past few months.” Lance said, climbing into the bed alongside Keith. Immediately, Keith was clambering on top of him, settling in his lap shamelessly despite the lack of clothes between them. Lance gulped, blushing something crazy. Keith didn’t seem to think anything had changed in the time they were apart. “I work here. Hunk owns it. He took me in when I showed up here with nothing to my name.”

“Why did you leave your family?” Keith asked, letting the jacket fall from his shoulders, leaving himself completely naked in Lance’s lap. Lance averted his eyes, heat crawling up his neck. Keith was at least quick to reach for the other shirt and pull it on, covering himself for the most part. His wings were bigger now too, hardly fit underneath the shirt and stretched out underneath the hem. Lance made a mental note to hand-sew him something that would wrap around the wings rather than suffocate them.

“Is that how you found me? You asked them?” Lance asked, in belated realization.

“They weren’t much help. They figured you’d be by the ocean, though. I’ve spent day and night looking for you since. I’m pretty familiar with your smell, it wasn’t too hard to recognize it once I found the right village.” Keith chatted on conversationally, even as he rolled and wiggled around the bed, pulling the boxers and pajamas up his legs. Lance leaned back, respectfully staring at the opposite wall, giving Keith his privacy. Even his tail no longer fit inside a pant leg alongside his leg, instead the pants were left settled low on Keith’s waist, the tail hanging out over them. God, Lance had his work cut out for him.

Keith straightened back up, settling his chin on Lance’s shoulder and leaning over him from behind. He repeated the question Lance had so expertly dodged before. “Why did you leave them?”

“I wasn’t happy there.” Lance admitted on a quick exhale. He turned his face, pressing a kiss to Keith’s cheek, just to watch the other boy blush. A welcome distraction from the painful story he was telling. He may have had Keith back, but the situation with his family was still far from ideal. “There was nothing keeping me there as strong as the memories that drove me away.”

“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Keith sighed, long and hard, untangling himself from Lance and heading to the other side of the bed. He buried his face in his hands. “I said I wouldn’t ask you to leave your family, but I asked so much more of you, to wait for me indefinitely. Humans have such short lifespans, if this hadn’t happened, it could have been  _ decades  _ before we saw each other again. You could have died waiting for me to come back. I was so selfish, I didn’t want you to move on without me.”

“Keith, I wanted to wait.” Lance said, crawling after him. He wrapped himself around Keith, collapsing against his chest. He rested his head there, listening to the steady thud of Keith’s heart. “It just hurt too much. It reminded me of waiting for my father to come home. It broke my heart when he didn't come back and I couldn't take it happening again.”

Suddenly, the door to Lance’s room flew open. 

“You hungry?” Hunk asked as he peeked around the door, holding up a bloodied plate with a stack of meat on it. Lance looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “I don’t know what dragons eat, so I brought a little bit of everything. Mostly meat. Almost entirely meat, actually. Some of it raw, some of it well-done, some-”

“Hunk, bring him sweets.” Lance said, flashing a smile. “He likes cake.”

“Dragons like cake. Okay.” Hunk mumbled to himself, heading straight back out the door he’d walked in through. Lance watched him go, waiting until he was out of sight to tug Keith into his chest again. Keith stayed there, fingers toying with the waistband and the strings of Lance’s pants, perfectly comfortable exploring Lance’s body as if it were his own. Lance flushed, remembering the things they’d done together two years ago. It really was like they’d never been separated, at least for Keith. Lance couldn’t help but feel flustered over how casually Keith was touching him.

“What if I never see her again?” Keith said suddenly, seemingly more to himself than to anyone else. Lance hugged him and comforted him all the same. “We’ve been fighting for so long. I don’t want those to be my last memories of her.”

“Fighting?”

“Over you.”

“You told her about me?”

“She forbid me from leaving the castle. Kept watch over me like I was a prisoner.” Keith explained quietly, staring up at the ceiling as he recalled the memories. “I wouldn’t even talk to her the first month after I came back. I was so mad that she wouldn’t even try to understand. I tried to tell her so many times, to make her see what I see, to tell her about you. She didn’t want to hear it, she was convinced that humans were evil, all of them.”

“It’s a wonder you don’t think that after what you’ve been through today.”

“I could never, not after meeting you. Nothing about you is evil.”

“I wanted so badly to give up on you and move on. I thought I'd be able to here, if I got away from all the memories. It didn't change anything. I was still waiting for you. Always.”

“I thought about you every single day.” Keith replied, his voice nothing but genuine. He peppered kisses across the entirety of Lance’s face, leaving heat behind with every one. Lance closed his eyes, basking in the attention after so long without it. “You were my first thought every morning and my last every night. All I cared about was finding my way back to you.”

“I, um, brought the cake.” A sheepish voice spoke up from the doorway. Lance cracked an eye open, grinning over at Hunk in his embarrassment. Keith, the utter bastard, didn’t have an ounce of shame in him and just kept kissing down Lance’s jaw line, across his neck. Lance subtly pinched his hip under the blankets.

“Thanks, Hunk.”

“Can I ask how you ended up dating a dragon or is that a long story?” Hunk seemed cautious, as he padded into the room and set the tray of sweets down on the bedside table. Lance snickered, lifting himself up to sit upright on Keith’s hips. Keith stared lovingly up at him, a stupid grin on his face. No casualness about him at all.

“You know, the usual boy meets dragon story.” Lance said, winking at Hunk. “I offered myself to him as a sacrifice, he declined, things escalated from there.”

“They escalated from you being a human sacrifice?”

“Hey, Keith has had a really tough day. You know, mother being captured and tortured in front of him like an animal sort-of tough.” Lance gave Hunk a look, an unspoken demand to be met before he even finished asking him to leave. “Can we have some time alone and catch you up to speed over breakfast?”

“Yep. Take your time.” Hunk said hurriedly, practically tripping over himself in his rush to leave the room. It wasn’t like Lance could blame him, not when Keith had sat up beneath him and was in the midst of trying to kiss him even more. The dragon’s eyes seemed heavy with intent, a man on a mission.

“Thanks, Hunk.” Lance called after him with a wave, using his other hand to pry Keith off of his jugular where he was attempting to leave marks behind. “You’re the best for being so understanding and not telling anyone about this.”

“Who would believe me if I tried?!” Hunk shouted back, but he was already around the corner and out of sight at that point.

Lance heaved a sigh of relief, shoulders slumping, inadvertently giving Keith’s wandering mouth more room to explore. Lance reached up and grabbed a handful of his hair, wrenching him backward.

“What is _ up  _ with you?”

“We don’t have to hide, he already knows what I am.” Keith said excitedly, eyes alight with something akin to hopefulness. He leaned in again, nuzzling Lance’s neck, exhaling pure smoke across his skin and then kissing it to take the burning heat away.

“I mean, yeah, but generally you still don’t initiate… whatever you’re tryna initiate, in front of other people.” Lance interrupted himself more than once with a whimper, squirming around in Keith’s lap uselessly. Keith’s hands gripped his hips, pulling him closer each time he would try to shrink away from the touches. It’d just been so long since Lance had done this, he found he was way more sensitive, and Keith wasn’t exactly going slow and gentle to accomodate for any of it.

It was all Lance could do to bite back the pleased moans threatening to tear out of him.

“I don’t care if he watches.” And okay, final straw, Lance shoved Keith bodily back against the mattress and glared down at him. Keith seemed to clue into the fact he was doing something wrong then, a blush spreading across his face, eyes wide and guilty.

“I do, you animal!” Lance hissed. “And, more importantly than that, you literally haven’t even asked  _ me _ yet if I want to do whatever it is you’re tryna do to me.”

“Don’t have to do anything more than this. I just want to be close to you. Wanna smell you and taste you.” Keith said hurriedly, attempting to lean up again but finding Lance was still pinning him there, not convinced quite yet. Keith pouted at him. “It’s been so long, Lance. Please let me have this?”

“Geez.” Lance sighed, relenting easily. It wasn’t like he honestly wanted to stop, not after so long apart, imagining the moment they’d be able to do this again. Keith bolted upright the moment he realized he could, with so much force that he tackled Lance backward and was left pinning him down. He settled his weight on top of Lance, diving in to nip and suck at his neck. God, he was gonna look like he’d been mauled by a wild animal at the end of this.

“This is so weird. I think I would have preferred it if you’d asked to kiss me.”

Keith stilled against him. Slowly, he lifted his head. 

“Lance?”

“Do dragons really not kiss? Did you forget it’s even a thing?” Lance looked at him in exasperation. 

“I didn’t forget, I just had more important, instinctual things on my mind. Dragons love to scent partners and it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I wanted to mark you as mine again.” Keith mumbled rather awkwardly, eyes not meeting Lance’s. Lance sighed, leaning up to brush their lips together. Keith started to purr then, low and pleased with the development. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah.” Lance sighed, and as soon as he’d spoken the word against Keith’s lips, their mouths were pushed together with much more force. Keith wasted no time in licking past Lance’s lips, tasting him fully, like he was familiarizing himself with Lance all over again. He claimed Lance’s mouth as easily as he had his neck, nipping at his bottom lip and licking inside with long sweeps of his tongue.

Lance trembled underneath him, hand knotting in the shirt he’d given Keith so tightly it threatened to tear under the pressure. He wrapped his legs around Keith’s hips, eliminating the last bit of distance between their bodies. Keith responded with enough enthusiasm to make the bed rock, humping between Lance’s legs just like the last time they’d done this. Lance blushed, weaving his fingers through Keith’s hair. He pulled Keith back, panting uselessly.

“Keith.”

“I’m sorry, I know you said to ask you first! I didn’t mean to! It just felt so good, fuck, and it’s been so long and I’m so happy to see you again. And, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve grown? A lot? And with that came all these awful new hormones and-”

“You’re going through dragon puberty?” Okay, in Lance’s defense, he hadn’t meant to laugh. It just seemed so ridiculous, seeing as Keith was definitely a good decade older than him in reality. He at least was starting to look it now, more like a man than the boy he’d been before. He was probably taller than Lance in his human form now too… Lance would have to check. 

As it was, he filed the thought away for later, more pressing issues at hand. Keith was blushing something awful, angrily scowling down at the pillows. “Hey, I’m not teasing you.”

“It’s embarrassing. It’s like I can’t even hold myself back from you now.” Keith huffed. He leaned forward, pressing the most gentle, apologetic kiss yet to Lance’s cheek. He pulled back, gaze soft. “If I go too far again just tell me, shove me and I’ll back off.”

“You didn’t go too far.” Lance whispered back quickly, pressing their lips together. He rocked his hips upward with purpose, swallowing down the grunt Keith spilled into the kiss in response. Keith pulled back quickly, eyes wide and blown out with the same lust he’d been trying to conceal. 

Lance laughed, pressing their foreheads together and just panting, trying to catch his breath. “Hunk’s room is literally right next door, he can probably hear us talking, the walls are so paper thin. The rejection has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the fact I’m not gonna let my best friend hear us while we… do stuff.”

“Oh.” Keith blinked, staring deeply into Lance’s eyes. “So, you still want to? With me?”

“Keith, I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.” Lance laughed, shaking his head fondly. He traced his fingers along the sharp curve of Keith’s jaw, his touch dancing down to his lips. He pressed his thumb to Keith’s bottom lip, drawing it back only to watch it snap back into place. 

Lance looked back up, his eyes dark as they found Keith’s, filled with longing.

“I’m yours, remember?”

The reaction was as instant as Lance had expected it to be. A whole-body shiver wracked Keith’s frame and he let out a pathetic mewl, flattening himself against the length of Lance’s body, searching for closeness at any cost. 

“Fuck, Lance! You can’t just  _ say _ that!” Keith whined pathetically, his hips stuttering forward on their own accord, desperate for relief. Lance shushed him with another kiss, reaching down to slide a hand into his pants, wrapping it around one of Keith’s leaking cocks. Oh yeah, definitely bigger than Lance remembers them being. 

Keith whimpered, hips rolling weakly into the touch, all but fucking drooling on Lance’s shoulder he was so out of it right from the start. It was an ego boost to say the least. 

“Look at you, Keith, you won’t last long at all like this. I think you lasted longer as a teenager.” 

“Shut-up.” Keith growled into his skin, baring his teeth but not biting down with them, probably not trusting himself to when his whole body was tense and wanting. “What part of hormonal and horny did you not understand?”

“The part where it’s a bad thing?” Lance countered, a smug grin on his face. 

“What if I find you something to bite down on?” Keith suggested urgently, like it was the best idea he’d ever had and he couldn’t wait to announce it. He was already looking around the room for the right gag to shove into Lance’s mouth, just so they could continue where they’d left off. Lance laughed, bright and airy, amused by his urgency.

He pulled his hand out of Keith’s pants, much to his annoyance if the growl was anything to go by.

“Come on, idiot.” Lance shoved him and Keith rolled off quickly, just like he’d promised he would. But it was only so Lance could stand and hold a hand out to him. Keith took it curiously, letting Lance lead him out of the room. Lance paused as he shoved his feet into his shoes, staring toward Hunk’s closed bedroom door. “Hunk, we’re stepping out, we’ll be back soo-”

“Take your time!” Came Hunk’s strangled response. Lance laughed, patting Keith’s shoulder to tell him to stay put and then wandering over to push into Hunk’s room. He walked inside, to where Hunk was sitting on the bed with his nose buried in a book, very clearly trying to distract himself.

“Sorry for scarring you for life.”

“Dude, I’m more worried about you.” Hunk said, ominously. Lance quirked an eyebrow, wondering if Hunk was still thinking Keith would turn on him and eat him any second. Now, it was Hunk’s turn to look incredibly sheepish. “I might have snuck a glance while he was transforming. Holy shit! Holy shit, Lance. How are you gonna walk tomorrow?”

Lance paled in realization.

“I’m not gonna take them both at the same time, geez, Hunk!” He hissed under his breath, hoping Keith wasn’t listening on, wouldn’t clue in to what they were talking about. Hunk just shook his head though.

“You’re a brave man, Lance, even one seems like a lot to me.”

“Thanks for your concern, but I think I’ll be fine!” Lance chucked a nearby book at him now, cheeks aflame. Hunk was laughing though, which meant he couldn’t have been scarred for life as he was letting on, was probably teasing more than anything. 

“Go on, get it out of your systems before you come back.”

“Whatever.” Lance grumbled, turning and marching back out of the room. Keith was waiting by the door with a very unconvincing pokerface on, his lips twitching almost imperceptibly as Lance grabbed his hand and dragged him out into the night air. “Don’t even fucking say a word, mister.”

\--

They walked hand-in-hand down the worn path to the beach, Lance leading the way. Even in the darkness of the night, he knew the way there like second nature. It was his happy place, his personal form of paradise, and he was all too happy to finally be sharing it with Keith. 

For the most part, they stayed silent on the walk down. Other than the occasional murmur, the occasional giggle when Keith would get handsy and pull Lance into a kiss, they just basked in the simple luxury of being near to each other again. It almost felt like a dream and Lance was terrified to wake up at any moment, that he might blink and Keith would be gone from his life again.

“Well, here we are.” Lance gestured grandly to the small set-up, a little cove tucked away in the palms, nothing to decorate it save for a hammock and a crate used as a table. It was perfectly primitive, none of the stress that might find Lance back in the village. He spent long hours here on his days off, just basking in the sun, in his thoughts.

“It’s nice.” Keith muttered rather gruffly, his voice practically a growl. Lance rolled his eyes, turning to face Keith. He’s not sure why he expected him to appreciate it anyway, with the state he was in. He had a one track mind at the best of times, but especially with both his cocks hard and leaking in his pants.

That was the main appeal of this place. They were well out of sight and earshot of any other person. In the past, this meant Lance could sing and babble to himself to his heart’s content. Now, it meant he could take Keith apart like he’d always imagined. Slow and delicious. Indulgent after so long apart.

He turned around, lifting their interlocked hands and brushing his lips across Keith’s knuckles.

“I missed this.”

“What? Sneaking around in the woods together to get off?”

“No.” Lance snickered. He leaned in, burying his face into the curve of Keith’s neck, smiling so hard he felt dizzy with it. He inhaled deeply, pressing a kiss there. His hands came down to the front of Keith’s pants, one slipping effortlessly inside and fitting around one of his cocks. He gave it a few tugs, more teasing than anything else. “You, I guess. I missed you.”

“ _ Lance _ .” That was probably supposed to be a warning in Keith’s tone, but it was pretty hard to take it seriously when he was very clearly fighting not to moan. Lance smirked. Relenting, he pulled his hands free and instead shoved Keith’s pants down his legs altogether. Keith’s hips bucked forward into the space between them, a needy noise bubbling up in his throat.

“Alright, so I've thought long and  _ hard  _ about how we’re gonna make this work.” Lance’s tone was bordering on conversational, even as he sunk down to his knees in front of his lover. Keith immediately reached for Lance’s hair, fingers weaving through it, pushing it out of his eyes so they could hold eye contact.

“Have you?”

“I figure… I’ll get one off with my mouth, then the other can come deep inside my ass.” Lance grinned something devilish up at him, each hand wrapping around one of Keith’s cocks and both picking up a steady rhythm right off the bat. “What do you think? Any constructive criticism? Additions to the plan?”

Keith tipped Lance’s head back further, touch gentle as his hand slid down to cup his jaw.

“I am so stupidly in love with you.” Keith practically cooed the words, thumb pressing into the indent of Lance’s dimple. Lance smiled harder. “Heaven and Hell combined couldn’t keep me from you.”

“Aw, look who went and became a romantic the second I took his pants off.” He teased, batting his eyelashes. But then his attention was back on the task at hand because he was as impatient for this as Keith, even if his body wasn’t giving him away so crudely. He’s getting there though, getting harder the longer he’s looking up the line of Keith’s body, two heavy cocks inches from his mouth. 

He licked his lips, glancing up one last time. “Do you have a preference for which one goes in which hole?”

“Shut-up.” Keith groaned, cheeks heating up in a blush. He averted his eyes, the slightest pout to his lips, practically urging Lance to just get on with it already. Lance took the hint, moving to clasp both hands around one of Keith’s cocks, gripping the base to hold it steady as he moved his lips to the tip. He pursed them, kissing the head of Keith’s cock with a gentle hum. 

Keith’s hips stuttered forward and Lance took it, let his mouth open into it. Keith wasn’t exactly gentle as he buried himself deep inside Lance’s mouth at the first possible chance, cock sliding wetly along the flat of his tongue. It hit the back of Lance’s throat first slide in and he choked, pulling back to shoot a withering look up at Keith. Keith who was paying no attention at all, head tipped back to stare at the stars, his hand working over his cock that wasn’t already being serviced. 

Lance pouted, but he wrapped his lips around Keith’s cock and let it push inside again. He braced himself for it this time, kept himself poised and perfectly still as Keith fucked his mouth in short, needy thrusts.

“I’m close.” Keith blurted already, buried to the hilt in the heat of Lance’s mouth. Lance stared up at him, wide-eyed, but Keith just kept rocking into his mouth. He groaned, free hand grabbing a fistful of Lance’s hair, grip almost painful as it dragged him back and forth. Keith guided him along his cock at just the right speed, just the right angle to shove himself as deep as he could go, flared cockhead settling at the back of Lance’s throat and pulsing there.

Sure enough, cum spilled across Lance’s tongue and dripped down the back of it moments later. Hot, wet spurts all at once, until he was struggling not to choke on the amount of liquid he was swallowing around. Keith swayed where he stood, knees threatening to buckle as he emptied his load into a willing mouth.

Finally, he untangled his fingers from Lance’s hair and took a step back, his softening cock slipping past Lance’s lips with a wet pop. Lance coughed into his fist, the sound wet with the amount of cum he’d just forced down his throat. He looked up at Keith, ready to lecture him for being so handsy, but hesitating.

Keith was staring at him with the most adoring look, eyes soft and filled with warmth, admiring.

Fuck.

“How was that?” Lance sighed, leaning in to rest his cheek against Keith’s stomach. His second cock rested inches from Lance’s lips, but he wasn’t about to ask for a repeat of that. Especially not now that he was fully hard, horny beyond belief. He was ready to get some stimulation out of this. He was beyond ready to lose his virginity. And he wanted it to happen right now, with Keith.

“Good.” Keith was purring, loud and inhibited in his post-orgasm haze. “So fucking good.”

“Think this one’s ready for a turn?” Lance asked, moving to kiss up the length of Keith’s hard shaft, from tip to base. Keith rumbled a pleased noise, but he looked troubled.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.” Lance assured him, getting to his feet and walking over to the crate. He dug around inside, pulling out a familiar unmarked jar. Keith was staring at him skeptically. Lance didn’t spend a day’s worth of wages on this lube to have Keith look at it with those distrusting eyes. “I might have… done this to myself. A couple times. That’s how I found out about how thin the walls are in mine and Hunk’s place. And, hence why I stashed it here instead, so when I get in the mood to use it this is where I go.” 

Keith’s eyes lit up with recognition, and then something much filthier as he eyed the aforementioned hammock, realization setting in that Lance had touched himself many times right there. Lance flushed.

He walked back over to Keith and shed his clothes on the way, all except for his shirt, which he kept on until he could drape it across the sand to sit on. He sat back, unscrewing the lid on the lube to get a healthy amount on his fingers. He took one look at Keith’s clawed digits and shook his head vehemently, deciding that that was never going to happen. 

Instead, he reached down and worked himself open, just like he’d done so many times before.

It had a different feeling, touching himself so intimately while Keith was watching.

Keith who was practically vibrating with impatience, watching so avidly it was clear he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight even if he were to try. He kept shifting closer, fighting the urge to reach out and get his own hands on Lance. He curled his fingers into fists, resting his cheek on Lance’s knee and staring down between his thighs. Lance slipped a second finger inside, moaning.

Something in Keith snapped at that. He turned his head, nipping at the inside of Lance’s thigh, lathing his long tongue over it. He sucked a mark into the place, Lance’s legs twitching uselessly with the urge to close. Keith trailed downward, kissing across his thighs, leaving marks in his wake. 

He slipped a third finger in as Keith reached the apex between thigh and crotch, shoving his nose greedily into the space. He inhaled deeply, moan muffled by Lance’s skin. He kissed across Lance’s pubic bone, along the dip of his V, licked uselessly at the base of Lance’s cock without giving any real stimulation.

And then Keith kissed downward, down the slope of his thigh further, mapping out a path with teeth and tongue until his face was right beside where Lance’s hand was working himself open. Keith pushed his way in close, his tongue darting out to lick the excess lube from Lance’s fingers, the tip just barely flicking against Lance’s hole. He cried out all the same though, pulling his fingers free and deeming himself ready. Very ready.

“Keith, come on, fuck me. I need it. I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?” Keith lifted his head from between Lance’s thighs, staring up at him worriedly.

“Yes!” Lance urged, reaching down blindly until Keith took the hint and appeased him.

Keith settled on top of him, hands incredibly gentle as they landed on the inside of Lance’s thighs and gently eased them open. Lance spread his legs, fitting them into place on either side of Keith’s hips. Keith moved in close, gripping his cock in his hand, rubbing it a few quick times. He readjusted, a determined expression as he fit the head of his cock to Lance’s stretched hole. “Just go slow, alright?”

“I can do slow, I can-” Keith assured him, voice cutting off in a weak gasp the second the tip breached the tight ring of muscle. It slipped in easily with all the lube to guide the way, the head of Keith’s cock resting just inside of Lance. Already the stretch was noticeable enough to have Lance shifting awkwardly, trying to move into a more comfortable position.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do.

Keith trembled uselessly above him, reaching down to grip the part of himself not yet buried inside of Lance, forcing his hips to stay still. His eyes rolled back, jaw falling open and letting his moans spill out unfiltered. His hips rock minutely, not enough for him to sink deeper, only enough for Lance to be very aware of the cockhead resting just inside of his hole. “Oh.  _ Oh _ . Oh,  _ fuck. _ ”

Lance felt significantly wetter inside all of the sudden, wetter than his generous lube application probably allowed. Keith was still shaking. 

“Keith… did you just?” Lance asked, reaching down between them. He slipped a finger inside himself as Keith pulled his hips back and pulled free. Sure enough, the wetness was unmistakable, practically flooding inside his hole. Lance’s fingers came away smeared with the viscous white liquid. Lance gaped at Keith, uncertain what to make of the situation. 

“I warned you! I can’t help it right now, I’m a mess!”

“Worst virginity loss ever.” Lance was laughing now, giggling like a menace and wiggling around beneath Keith as he did. It wasn’t the end of the world. As much as he’d been looking forward to this moment, they had lots of time to try it again, and maybe Keith would last longer next time. Lance was anything but genuinely judgmental, he just couldn’t help but laugh. Keith was just too cute, pouting and disappointed in himself for not lasting longer.

The bubbly laughter and the wicked smile disappear in an instant when Keith rolled his hips against his ass again, a very hard cock slotting into the crack. Keith fucked back and forth in the wet mess he’d made that was steadily leaking from Lance’s hole. He rubbed the head of his cock through the drying cum there, spreading it from Lance’s crack to taint, up against his balls. Lance trembled. 

“Is that? Your other one’s hard again already?”

“Come here.” Keith growled, nails digging into Lance’s hips to hold him in place. “You wanna get fucked?” 

“Yes.” Lance grinned, cheeky even still. He leaned up, pecking Keith on the lips, eyelashes fluttering alluringly as he laid back down beneath him. He spread his legs even wider. Inviting.

Keith guided himself back inside of Lance’s body, after another generous scoop of lube was applied over the length of his cock. He sunk inside further on the first thrust, getting an inch or two in before Lance was tensing up uncomfortably around him. Keith froze.

“You good?”

“Fuck.” Lance’s body clamped down on the intrusion uselessly, trying to get used to the size and shape, his walls hugging it too-tight. He couldn’t exactly blame Keith for coming so quickly. He  _ knows _ he’s tight, can feel it in the way every inch pressed inside has him aching more. “Bigger than I thought it’d be.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Yeah.” Lance admitted thoughtlessly, immediately regretting it when Keith’s eyes went impossibly wide and he attempted to pull out. Lance yelped, thighs gripping Keith’s hips tighter, curling around them and ankles locking behind his back. He forcibly dragged Keith back inside, groaning at the delicious sting as he was filled again. “It’s not bad. Just… it’s a lot. Give me a second.”

“Look so pretty underneath me.” Keith praised, burying his face into Lance’s neck and panting. He was clearly struggling to hold still, but he was doing his best. Other than the odd jerky thrust, he stayed right where Lance wanted him for a long passing moment.

“Okay, try moving.” Lance said, and Keith listened without any hesitation. He pulled back and then thrusted back inside of Lance, gentle and experimental at first. Lance got used to the feeling slowly, shifting around underneath Keith until he found the best angle, the easiest way to hold Keith as he rocked inside of him. 

It felt good. Better than Lance had hoped, really. Keith was starting to rub up against something amazing inside of him, something that Lance had just barely been able to graze if his fingers were twisted at just the right angle. Needy noises were spilling past Lance’s lips without permission and Keith kissed him to swallow them down, tongue sliding into Lance’s mouth and tasting himself there.

Soon enough, Keith was back to humping him quick and unsteadily. All sense of a pace was immediately lost to Keith stubbornly chasing another orgasm. The moment he felt the urge come over him, it was like he couldn’t help but indulge it. “Keith, you’ve gotta slow down, you’re not gonna last-”

“The other one’s ready, doesn’t matter.” Keith grunted out, expression curling into something fierce and determined above Lance. There was sweat beading on his brow, his lips pressed tightly together to stop pleased noises from escaping, his eyebrows drawn tight. In the end, he even closed his eyes, and that was the moment Lance was sure he spilled inside again. 

He didn’t immediately pull out this time, though. He took a moment to bask in it, then leaned back to look down between their bodies. Keith gripped his cock, watching Lance’s muscles twitch uselessly around it, stretched to accommodate its size. Keith’s eyes flickered back up to Lance’s, something primal and wanting there. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. You’re fucking pulling me in. Your body’s so hungry for it.”

“Stop it, it’s embarrassing!” Lance smacked him upside the head. Even before he’d stopped shaking from the aftershocks, Keith’s lips stretched into a smile. He slumped overtop Lance then, lazy and ready to pass out by the look of it. Lance gripped his face between both his hands, picking his head up. “Hey, fuck off, you don’t get to sleep until I get to come at least once. Don’t be selfish. Come here. Kiss me.”

“Alright, alright.” Keith whined, angling his hips so his softening cock would slip free. Then, he gripped the other, already hard and aching again. Ready for a fourth orgasm. Lance groaned in jealousy, tipping his head back into the sand in defeat. He didn’t even care if he got grits of sand through his luscious locks, this was just unfair.

“I can’t believe you get four orgasms out of this and I only get one.”

“Dragon perks.” Keith smirked, wide and cocky. Lance leaned up to kiss it off of him. They kissed as Keith slowly and surely started to fuck him again, a proper grind into his body. At the very least, now that he was less pent up and raring to go, he managed to set a pace that was kinder to Lance’s spent body. He rolled his hips in long, smooth thrusts. The slow tempo took Lance apart faster than anything else had. The tip of Keith’s cock dragged torturously over his prostate on each trip inward again.

“Just like that, baby, just like that.” Lance groaned, hands scrambling across Keith’s broad shoulders, trying to find purchase on the dips and dives of his spine. 

“Hey,” Keith breathed, pulling back to look Lance in the eye. His expression was sweet. Far too sweet, that much was for sure. “Can I ask you for something?”

“Nope, no, not happening.” Lance deadpanned, before Keith could even begin to ask for it. He kind-of figured this was coming, thinking back on that first messy blowjob he’d given Keith, but he also knew for a fact he wasn’t anywhere near ready to attempt it like this. He might, down the road, once he’d had time to do some research and practice. But as it was, this was only his first time, and really he can only be expected to take so much… “Two won’t fit. Capiche. End of story.”

“I wasn’t gonna ask for that!” Keith hissed at him, burying his face into Lance’s neck to hide the rising blush to his cheeks. He was proper embarrassed by the situation, like he’d never even considered the possibility that Lance might be able to take both of his cocks inside of him at once. 

“No? What do you want, then?”

“Wanna bite you.” Keith muttered, his hips picking up speed with his words. Lance yelped, spreading his legs wider, trying to withstand the battering against his most sensitive places, already overstimulated they’d been going at it for so long. Keith was hitting his prostate tirelessly now, over and over again, no sign of relenting any time soon. Lance could feel his orgasm growing from a barely-there simmer into something much more present. 

“Y-Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Keith whimpered. “Need to.”

“Well, if you  _ need _ to.” Lance said, his voice teasing. But Keith didn’t take the bait, he just reaffirmed his words with a quick nod of his head, his hips grinding in deeper now. With intent. He was growing close to another climax of his own. Lance shivered, wondering how anymore cum would possibly fit inside him. It really was a ridiculous amount, he could feel it leaking out already and running down the crack of his ass, toward the shirt resting underneath him.

“I do.” Keith grunted. His hips were picking up speed now, growing to an animalistic pace, fucking into Lance’s body so quick that it has him rocking back into the sand. He couldn’t even hold himself up on his elbows, Keith was fucking into him with such force his back hit the ground with a grunt. All he can do is lie back and take it, arch his back into it. “It’s all I can think about. All I’ve been able to think about since I saw you again. Especially now though, fuck.” 

Lance reached down between them, wrapping a hand around his own cock and jerking himself off.

“I’m close. Go ahead, baby. Bite me. Try and be gentle, will y-” Lance didn’t get to finish the sentence. 

His orgasm was mind-blowing, unlike anything he’d ever achieved on his own. He was pretty sure it hit at the exact same time as Keith’s, both of them letting out matching groans. Keith’s hips stuttered forward inside of him, burying himself as deep as possible for when he spilled into Lance. Lance’s entire body seemed to hug Keith’s cock this time, as he came in the same instance as Keith. He practically milked him, making sure he came as deep inside as he could go. Lance thrashed against him in pleasure.

And then, before he’d had any time to really bask in the glow of it, Keith’s teeth sliced through his flesh, biting down hard into where his shoulder and neck met. Lance cried out, equal parts pleasure and pain washing over him, mixing into one overwhelming cocktail. He was uncertain whether to scramble away or press back into Keith, in search of more.

And then, Keith began to purr. The vibrations only made Lance impossibly more aware of the wound, of the fact there were still teeth lodged in him. Not to mention, it had started to hurt in an entirely different way. It was like Keith had breathed pure fire into the exposed cut, had sent smoke into Lance’s bloodstream and was lighting him up from the inside out. It was burning hot! It made Lance want to crawl out of his own skin, like the worst fever and the hottest day of summer combined. 

“It kinda fucking hurts, babe.” Lance said finally, when he couldn’t bring himself to lie there for another second more. He didn’t care if Keith was still riding out the blissful high of orgasm, not while he was sitting there in pain. The bite was unlike any injury Lance had ever experienced before, and Keith still wasn’t pulling his teeth out of it. Every miniscule shift or twitch would send his teeth sinking into new territory, deeper, harder. 

Keith grunted, bucking forward into Lance abruptly. The movement was so slick and easy, Lance almost didn’t even think twice at first, more distracted by the pain in his neck. But then a realization hit him...

“Are you  _ still  _ coming?!” Lance shrieked, trying to tilt his hips away from Keith’s. But Keith’s purr quickly switched into a growl, and then he slammed himself back inside of Lance with some force. The movement made a sick squelch of a noise and Lance was certain now he was lying in what had to be a puddle of jizz. He groaned.

“Keith?” Lance tried, shaking his boyfriends shoulders. No reaction. “You lazy fucking oaf, get off!”

“I think I killed my boyfriend. Death by orgasm.” Lance joked, once again trying to get a reaction out of the growling body on top of him. Keith didn’t respond, his jaw flexing slightly, biting down harder for a split second and sending more of that burning sensation crawling up Lance’s neck. He shivered uselessly, hands clawing at Keith’s back. “Please tell me we’re not gonna sleep here, butt naked? If Hunk comes looking for us tomorrow morning he’s gonna get an eyeful.”

“Keith?” Lance whispered a minute later, worry lacing his voice now. Finally, agonizingly slowly, Keith unlatched his teeth and carefully pulled back. Immediately, he pressed a disgusting bloodied kiss to Lance’s cheek, grinning so hard that Lance couldn’t help but feel it.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry.” Keith’s words were hardly distinguishable around the purr. “You’re mine now.”

“I was already yours?” Lance tried, confusion as present as ever.

“Bonding bite.” Keith clarified, leaning down again to lick at the bite wound. While normally Lance would vehemently protest the sandpaper drag of that tongue across his skin, it seemed to somehow alleviate the burning pain left behind from Keith’s teeth marks. It was like the wound was on fire, burning up, and Lance wasn’t sure how to handle that constant sweltering pain. So he let Keith lick to his heart’s content, provide some relief. “Mates.”

“Mates?” 

“Yeah.” Keith pulled back, flashing a toothy grin. Lance could only glare, knowing that most of those teeth were buried into his flesh moments before. But Keith was undeterred, purring so loudly it could scare away nearby wildlife. “I’m gonna be the best mate ever, Lance. Don’t worry. I’ll take such good care of you. I’ll never leave you again. I’ll spend the rest of my life with you. I love you so much. So, so much.”

“I love you too, doofus.” Lance sighed finally, reaching up to pet Keith’s head. Immediately, the dragon melted back down against him, settling heavy on his chest once again. Keith snuggled in, making himself perfectly comfortable on top of Lance, softening cock still inside of him. Lance figured it best not to bring it up, not when Keith looked like this. All fucked-out and content. 

“Love you so much.” Keith repeated, drowsily, far away. 

“You better go back to normal by the time we head out tomorrow.” Lance muttered, even though he couldn’t deny how impossibly cute Keith was like this. He gathered him closer, holding Keith’s limp body protectively in his arms. He figured he could get used to this, biting and all. 

\--

The next morning found them sitting around the bar before opening, devising their gameplan. Lance was scribbling out his ideas on paper, Hunk was cleaning some glasses as he listened to Lance’s rambling, and Keith was… out of commission still, for the foreseeable future. All he was capable of was leaning into Lance and purring, loud and bordering on annoying. 

“You’re serious? You’re really planning on trying to storm the royal castle? The Galra family has a massive army, Lance, you’d never make it to the front door.” Hunk huffed, whipping the drying cloth over his shoulder to lean in and get a better look at what Lance was drawing out. A warning growl filled the room when Hunk got closer to Lance and both friends stared at Keith in exasperation.

“Keith, shut the fuck up.” Lance leveled, reaching up to grip his jaw and hold it closed. Keith continued to glare, but the noise tapered out, back into the happy purr from before now that Lance was paying him attention instead. 

“We won’t take the front door then.” Lance suggested, an idea forming. “The girl. The one that comes here every few weeks and you come out from the kitchen special to serve her. You said she was a witch once? She makes maps, does she not?”

“Lance, you’d never be able to afford one.” Hunk told him, frown on his face. “She’s a witch. She can map out places she’s never been to by using her second sight. Her maps cost more gold than you’ve ever seen in your lifetime, though. And there’s no telling if she’d even make a map of the castle for you. She’d be tried for treason if anyone ever found out, you realize?”

“It’s our only chance, Hunk.” Lance said, his mind made up. “Where can we find her?”

“There’s a swamp not far from here.” Hunk looked hesitant, like he didn’t want to share the information if Lance was going to go running off into danger. However, he also knew his friend well enough by now to know that Lance was far too stubborn to back down when he’d made up his mind on something. He would find out one way or another, so Hunk chose to be helpful. “She lives there. She doesn’t like unexpected visitors.”

“Thanks.” Lance hugged his friend over the bar.

“I’m going to grab some gold out of the register. Don’t freak out, just take it. You own this business as much as I do, Lance, and you’re gonna need it to convince Pidge to look twice at you.”

“Fine.” Lance sighed, reluctant to accept the help even still when he knew how badly Hunk needed the money to keep things afloat. Hunk wandered off into the back to collect the coins and Lance turned to Keith. He was sitting in the stool next to him, arms wrapped around one of Lance’s and holding it to his chest. Lance reached out with his free hand, stroking Keith’s hair back from his face. “What do you say, Keith? You feeling up to the trip? You seem a little… loopy. Maybe I should go alone and come back for you before I head to the castle?”

“No!” Keith answered without a shred of hesitation, worry bubbling up the surface so plain it would be impossible to miss. He held onto Lance’s arm that much tighter. “I need to come with you. I can’t leave your side yet, the bonding bite is still new, someone else could bite over it and override my claim-”

“Keith, there aren’t any dragons between here and the swamp looking specifically to mate me.” 

“I want to stay with you.” Keith corrected himself, looking at Lance with wide, hopeful eyes. Lance sighed, shaking his head fondly. In truth, he hadn’t really wanted to separate from Keith again so soon either, but it would definitely make the trip harder tugging him along.

“Alright, you can come.” Lance relented, pressing a kiss to Keith’s forehead. “But try to keep up with me, okay? I don’t want either of us to get hurt because we’re too focused on each other.”

“Here you go, Lance. Please don’t die.” Hunk told him with a smile that contrasted the words, dropping a bag full of gold onto the bar between them. Lance flinched, seeing just how much was there. Surely Hunk couldn’t part with this much of his savings. Hunk must have read the doubt on his face, because he reached over and grabbed Lance’s free hand, ignoring the way Keith began to rumble like an engine. “I’m pretty sure half of my new patrons only come here to see you. You’re worth the investment, Lance. Just promise to come back.”

“I’ll be back before you know it, Hunk.” Lance assured him, squeezing his hand. “Hold down the fort alone one last time?”

“Good luck, you crazy idiot.” Hunk shook his head, standing back to cross his arms over his chest. Lance got to his feet, grabbing the bag of coins and leading the way out of the restaurant. Keith was on his heels, never more than a foot away at any given moment since the night before.

Lance’s eyes slid over to him, gaze contemplative.

“You sure you’re good?” He asked. Keith nodded stubbornly, but he was flushed like he had a fever, eyes dark and unfamiliar even now. Even with the long cape covering his wings and horns, there was something very dragon-like about Keith’s human face right now. If anyone looked him in the eye, it would be a dead giveaway. Lance nudged him playfully with his elbow. “When does this high wear off, huh? Please tell me you’re not going to be like this forever, or even every time we have sex.”

“It lasts about twenty-four hours after the bonding bite.” Keith said, tone scientific. Then, a pout formed on his lips, his eyes flicking over to narrow in Lance’s direction. Petty. “ _ Usually _ , two dragons will spend the  _ entire day _ together, consummating the bond.”

Lance got the memo, picked up what he was puttin’ down, read between the lines.

Nope, no fucking way, not happening.

“I’m way too sore to let you and your dragon cocks anywhere near me for a week minimum, so you’re gonna have to deal with the blue balls.” Lance said, flashing a cruel smile back at him. Keith rumbled complaints under his breath, but he didn’t push the issue, just followed alongside Lance the rest of the way with a dark cloud over his head. Brooding.

And, alright, fine, maybe Lance relented once they were out of sight from the village. He pushed Keith up against the nearest tree, dropped to his knees, and glared up at the other boy the entire time it took to suck off both of his cocks. Keith was a blushy, giggly, satisfied mess at finally getting what he wanted, so loud that Lance had to wonder if they’d even wandered far enough from the village at all. Keith’s loud and excited self was such a contrast from the scowling attitude problems he’d had all day.

When he came, he fisted at Lance’s shirt so hard he tore the fabric by his shoulders, which was really just the icing on the cake as Lance choked on the ridiculous amount of cum spilling down his throat.

Keith at least had the decency to look bashful, to offer to return the favor afterward (Lance declined, he was still finding sand in places sand should never be, and he wasn’t trying to have the same experience with splinters, thank-you very fucking much).

\--

Keith was a considerably better traveling buddy after getting off again, he made idle conversation, didn’t growl at every branch snapping in the distance. He listened to Lance tell him about everything he’d done in his absence, all the people he’d met, all he’d learnt about the beach. Keith smiled the whole time, an avid audience, asking questions about all of Lance’s stories like he couldn’t get enough of hearing him talk. 

And Lance, for the most part, was just so happy to have this back. Sure, the circumstances were far from ideal and there was a chance that once they saved Krolia things would go back to being terrible again, but now more than ever, Lance was reassured that his feelings for Keith hadn’t been misplaced all this time. Keith had been missing him and wanting him just as badly.

The swamp was only an hour’s walk from the ocean village. They smelled it before it ever came into their line of sight, a putrid gross odor filling the air. Lance held back his gags as he eyed the weaving path that wound through the trees, sinking bubbling earth on either side of it. Lance wondered what would happen if he fell in, if it would eat his skin off. It smelled like skin-eating water, anyway.

“I’ll fly us across.” Keith said, determination showing. Lance looked at him in shock.

“I know your wings are a little bit bigger now, but in this form I doubt you could carry both of us.”

“I’ll transform then.”

“You think the witch is gonna respond well to a dragon landing on her front lawn? Really, Keith.”

So, that was how they ended up walking along the path. Lance squealed every time the ground threatened to give out beneath him, Keith snatching him backward and holding him close whenever it happened. Keith was constantly hovering at his back and now Lance didn’t complain, he felt considerably safer with the heat of Keith’s breaths on the nape of his neck.

The hut came into view soon enough and Lance sagged with relief. He reached back for Keith’s hand, tugging them along with excitement. They were almost there when Lance slipped, falling face-first forward and only stopped inches from the water, when Keith’s tail flung around to wrap around his midsection. It was clearly a strain of effort, but Keith got his hands on Lance’s arms and hauled him back up.

“Be careful.” Keith chastised him, tone strict even as his actions contradicted it, flighty worried kisses pressed all over Lance’s face. Lance swatted at him, embarrassed. They were pretty close to the hut now, if the witch looked out her window she would see the stupid exchange. 

“I’m being careful.” Lance told him, sticking his tongue out at him. Keith huffed, hovering closer than before as they walked up to the base of the hut. It was on high stilts, the only way up being a ladder. It looked like it had a few floors, almost bordering on being a tower. Lance set to work climbing the ladder, Keith following close enough behind that Lance wasn’t surprised to feel a hand pitching his butt halfway up.

“Sorry, it was right there, I couldn’t help myself.”

“You’re a fiend!”

“I wouldn’t be if you didn’t insist on being so attractive and rubbing it in my face.”

“I’m not rubbing it in your face on purpose! Keith, we’re on a ladder, for goodness sake, where the hell else am I supposed to put it?!”

“Are you guys almost up here? You’re taking forever.” The voice was bored, unbearably neutral. Lance’s head jerked back, staring up the length of the ladder, to where a head had poked out the door. Red hair, freckled face, glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose. She wasn’t even wearing a cape or a pointy hat! Did Hunk give him the right place? Was this really a witch?

“Yes, I’m a witch. Get up here already so I can kick you out again.” With that, the door slammed shut and she was gone. Lance leaned over, staring down the line of his body at Keith. Keith looked equally as lost, bushy eyebrows pressed tightly together.

So, they kept climbing. They opened the door and let themselves in, a cozy seating area welcoming them. The girl from before was settled on one of the couches, some form of technology in her hands.

“My answer is no.” She said, without looking up. “You can leave now.”

“We haven’t even asked the question yet.”

“You needn’t bother, I read your thoughts long before you arrived at the door.” Finally, green eyes flickered up to look between the two of them. She paused on Keith, eyes narrowing into a squint, thoughtful. Then, she turned back to the tech in her hands. “The only reason I didn’t try to stop you from arriving altogether is because of the gold.”

“No deal, no gold.” Lance said, stepping forward with his hands on his hips. Keith stumbled helplessly after him, trying to protect him from himself. Lance wasn’t afraid of this kid though, she didn’t even look to be as old as him, as she definitely wasn’t as tall. Lance could take her, if it came down to a fight, he could-

“I’m not fighting you.” 

“Alright, fine!” Lance huffed, marching over and sitting next to her on the couch, inviting himself. Keith stood awkwardly in the doorway, poised to pounce if need be, but too awkward to cross the threshold without an invitation. “If you can read our thoughts you must know why we need the map.”

“The Galra already tried to kill me once, I won’t draw their attention to me again.” The witch said, snubbing them both with her nose in the air. Lance glared at her.

“Please.” Both Lance and the girl whipped their heads in Keith’s direction. He was standing in the middle of the room, looking down at himself and fiddling with his hands. He reached up, pulling his hood back and giving her his best convincing smile. Fangs and all, it was sort-of terrifying.

“I’ve never had a dragon beg me for anything before, this is new.” She sat up, looking him over with intrigue. Lance didn’t like the way she was eyeing him like an experiment, like some kind of new and strange animal. But what was he meant to do? 

“Pidge? Is someone here?” A voice called from upstairs, and soon there were heavy boots scaling down the ladder, covered in mud. Lance recognized that voice, but surely it couldn’t be…

“Matt?!” Lance called back, jumping to his feet. Suddenly, the person soared down the ladder, skipping most of the steps entirely in his clumsy rush. Matt hit the floor with a thud, whirling around and throwing his arms open wide. He charged toward Lance, grinning ear to ear. 

“Lance! What are you doing here?!” Matt threw his arms around Lance, picking him up clean off the ground. Lance laughed breathlessly, trying to shove him off and catch his breath. “Man, I didn’t expect to see you again for weeks! Shiro is off on a mission and I have to stay here with my annoying brat of a sister Pidge until he gets back. Too dangerous, he said. Bah! Yeah, right. I could handle myself if he’d only let me try and-”

Matt cut himself off. He froze, going tense and rigid as a board against Lance. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lowered Lance back to the ground. He wasn’t looking at Lance anymore though, his eyes were staring behind him, where a low growl was slowly picking up volume. Lance sighed, slapping a hand to his face.

Sure enough, strong arms wrapped around Lance from behind, pulling him back against Keith’s chest.

“He’s mine.” Keith said, matter-of-factly, nuzzling his face into the curve of Lance’s neck where the bite from the night before was still stinging. Lance elbowed behind himself, assuming he hit Keith’s gut when all he got was searing pain in response. God, dragons were too tough for their own good.

“Keith!” Lance whined, reaching up and shoving against Keith’s entire face with some force. It didn’t work until he was sticking his fingers in Keith’s mouth by accident, trying to ease him off. Keith backed off, ever so careful, worried about nicking Lance’s fingers with his teeth. Keith gave a disgruntled noise and Lance blew a raspberry at him. “You’re scaring my friends, jackass.”

“Sorry.” Keith muttered, still silently seething. 

“You weren’t lying about having a boyfriend to let me down easy?” Matt seemed genuinely shocked by this development. Lance gave a groan of embarrassment, tipping his head back against Keith’s shoulder. He’d almost forgotten about his last awkward interaction with Matt, with everything that had gone on since. 

“Better yet, his boyfriend’s a dragon.” The witch, Pidge, commented. She wore a sly smirk, grinning at her brother’s expense. Matt looked hopelessly up at Keith. “You don’t stand a chance, big brother.”

“It’s a long story.” Lance said. Matt nodded in understanding, making a dramatic show of bowing and clapping his hands together. He looked up, a hint of a smile playing at his lips even as he tried to look remorseful.

“Sorry, Mr. Dragon, Sir.” 

“Keith, stop growling at him.”

“He thinks of you in ways that aren’t entirely friendly. I can tell.” Keith huffed, leaning out from behind Lance to sniff at the air. He recoiled, nose curled in disgust. “I can smell it on him. He reeks of lust.”

“Alright, alright, enough.” Lance groaned, so not willing to address that possibility ever. He didn’t want to know if Matt reeked of lust, thanks, he’d rather go his whole life without knowing that fact. “Matt, can you convince your sister to help us?”

“Easier said than done.” Matt straightened out, cracking his back in the process. He walked over and fell on the couch next to his sister, shoving her feet off the cushion. He cast puppy dog eyes in her direction and she stubbornly continued to ignore him. “Pidge, throw them a bone. Surely there’s something they could help you out with? The dude’s a literal dragon.”

“There is one thing…” Pidge trailed off, looking skeptical. Keith took the bait easily, predictably.

“What is it? I can help. I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” Pidge prompted, a devious smile. Keith nodded. “Kill King Zarkon.”

“W-What?! Pidge! Stop messing with them!” Matt cried out, slapping her legs. She rolled off the couch, tossing her tech aside and strolling languidly over to where Keith and Lance stood. She looked between them, face set in a serious line.

“I’m serious.” She deadpanned. “Are you up to the task or not?”

“I don’t…” Keith trailed off, uncertainty flashing in his eyes. He leaned into Lance’s side, his grip bordering on too tight, uncomfortable. Lance wrapped an arm around him, his own protectiveness surging up as Pidge stepped too close into their space, too expectant.

“Keith isn’t a killer.” Lance said plainly, shaking his head. “If that’s what you’re hoping for, you’ve got the wrong dragon. Unless you’re looking to have some deer exterminated, he’s really good at killing them.”

“I wasn’t asking, Keith.” Pidge sighed out, turning to Lance with an expectant gaze. “I can read your thoughts, remember? I know Keith isn’t up to the task. He’d never kill another person. But…”

“I’m not an assassin.”

“But you will be, if that’s your only choice.” Pidge placed a hand on Lance’s chest, patting him. “You’ll kill for Keith, won’t you? I already know your answer, Lance.”

Keith turned to look at Lance with wide eyes, shocked by the information.

“He sent my father into a suicide mission, Keith.” Lance sighed, looking at him desperately, hoping he could will Keith to understand where he was coming from. There had been so much pent up rage inside his chest for so long. And the King was still sending people to their deaths, tearing families apart, to this day! Someone had to stop him. “I’ve wanted him dead my entire life. I’ve been waiting for it to happen. Maybe… I can take matters into my own hands.”

“I’m not going to let you kill someone!” Keith hissed at him, grabbing Lance’s hand and turning him around. They huddled close, their backs turned to the others. “Seriously, Lance? You’re sure you’re okay with this? You don’t really come back from something like murder.”

“It feels like the right thing to do, like I was born to do it.” 

“You’re sure about this?” Keith still looked uncertain, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of Lance’s lips. He nodded, eyes aflame with determination. He’d never thought about it before now, but he’d made up his mind. He was going to do it.

“What about the prince?” Lance asked, turning back to Pidge. 

“I want him alive.” 

“And if I agree to do this, you’ll make the map?”

“Lance, you don’t have to-” Matt tried to say, but Pidge just held up her hand and he was instantly silenced. Magic. Lance’s eyes widened, finally feeling impressed by her talents. She shot him a look, like she’d heard the criticism even in his thoughts, but she let it go without an argument.

“A warrior, aren’t you? Just like your father.” She said, looking Lance over. “I’ve already made the map. I made a key that will work in any lock as well, a magic key.”

“Thank-you.”

“Hold up your end of the bargain.” She told him, even as she walked over to the table and picked up the piece of paper. She brought it to Lance, unfolding it to show the blueprints of the entire castle. It was like a maze, it would take him a while to familiarize himself with all of it. He took it from her hands, awed. He would have gotten so lost if he didn’t have a map. “I’m sure you know better than to cheat a witch?”

“I do.” She handed him the key.

“Good luck, then.” And with that, Pidge turned away from him and went back to her work. Lance didn’t attempt to leave yet though, Matt was clambering off the couch and jogging over to him. 

“Lance, are you sure about this? That’s a death wish. I’m a vampire hunter and I’m telling you, that’s an actual death wish.” Matt laughed, but it was forced. His smile, usually so boundless and easy, didn’t reach his eyes. Lance leaned in, giving him a fleeting kiss on the cheek.

“I’m sure. I want to do this.”

“I guess I can’t stop you then.” Matt sighed, pulling back as a pink blush stretched across his nose. He turned to look behind Lance, to where Keith’s chest had started up another grumbling growl, even as he apparently tried to fight if off. Matt pointed a finger directly into Keith’s face, a brazen move if Keith’s increasing growling was anything to go by. “Hey, dickhead? You watch out for him, you hear me? Lance is a good guy. The best. And from what I’ve seen, you haven’t done a very good job of making him feel that way. Step up your game or I’ll have to fight you for your man.”

“You’d lose.” Keith responded immediately. Tone unreadable.

“I’d go out fighting!” Matt countered, holding his head high. Lance was half expecting Keith to slug him in the jaw, if he was being completely honest. Keith may not have been a killer, but he was certainly a fighter, and he had no qualms whatsoever about standing up for Lance. But, surprisingly enough, he held himself back this time.

He stayed silent at Lance’s side, watching Matt’s antics with a curious glint in his eyes.

“You’re an idiot, Matt.” Lance laughed finally, shaking his head. “Thank-you. Both of you. For everything.”

“Here, take my sword with you.” Matt said suddenly, grabbing the sword off the mantle and placing the strap over Lance’s head. It fell to his back, heavier than Lance had expected it to be. Matt took a step back, grinning at him. “You might need it!”

“I’ll bring it back to you.”

“I’m sure you will.” Matt nodded, but it was obvious that he still had his doubts. Lance wouldn’t be able to stifle the last of them out until he’d finished the mission and came back in one piece, but he was determined to. “Good luck out there.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it.” Lance boasted, turning and heading for the door. He started down the ladder first and it was his turn to have Keith’s ass in his face, including his tail hitting him repeatedly on the way down. Lance scowled the whole time, and the expression only hardened further when they were on solid ground again.

Keith gave him this look… he didn’t even have to say a single word, that pathetic little pout was all Lance had to see. Like he was hurt, but he knew he had no right to be. Lance scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Don’t even start, Keith.” Lance told him, turning and starting ahead, marching through the muck of the swamp with none of the fear from before. He had a sword and map on him, and they hadn’t even needed all the coins Hunk had given for Keith to carry.

“But-”

“You were gone. Two years. Remember?”

“Did you and Matt-”

“Nothing happened between us!” Lance shouted finally, whipping around to face Keith because apparently this wasn’t the type of conversation he could walk away from. He looked into Keith’s dark eyes, swimming with concern and hurt. Lance sighed, stepping closer and placing his hands on Keith’s shoulders, shaking them a little bit. “But I would have been totally within my right to pursue it if I wanted to, you realize that? You had no claim over me.”

“Of course I realize that.” Keith grumbled, averting his eyes. Then, quieter, with far less fight… “It’s not like I chose to stay away. I would have been here protecting you if I could have.”

“I didn’t need protecting, I handled myself just fine without you.” Lance argued, crossing his arms over his chest, unwilling to budge on this topic. “I don’t _ need  _ you, Keith, if the last two years have taught me anything it’s that. I don’t need you to be happy or to live a full life. I can do that on my own. I just… want you. I want you more than anything or anyone else in this world. So stop doubting that and have a little faith in me, okay? I chose you. I want you.

“You’ve grown up a lot the last couple years.” Keith said, voice unmistakably soft, filled with admiration so strong it hit Lance like a punch to the gut. He took a step backward, face aflame at receiving such a sincere compliment. Sure, Keith dished out affection all day and night, but there was something else about the fierce sort-of respect in his eyes now. “I feel like I missed so much.”

“You’ll never miss another day.” Lance told him. “We’ll spend all of them together. Every single one.”

“You promise?” Keith quirked an eyebrow, but there was something devious there. Lance knew what was coming even before Keith pounced, but it left him no better prepared to fight off a dragon.

“Keith!” Lance squealed, trying to pry him off. But Keith was determined, like a giant dog, his tongue lolling out comically until it finally got to drag over Lance’s entire face. Lance gave up, arms falling limp at his sides, letting Keith lick the entirety of his face until it was slick and clammy. Lance glared at him the whole time, especially when he pulled back with a self-satisfied little smirk, all too pleased with himself for being an asshole. “We’ve been over this so many times and you still-”

“I love you.” Keith interrupted him. Lance blinked, staring owlishly back at him. Keith was practically vibrating, like the emotions in his chest were too heavy to stand up against, like it was a constant fight to keep them in check. He stumbled forward, grabbing Lance’s hands in both of his and squeezing them, his touch lingering. “I love you so much, Lance.”

“You ready to storm a castle together, love of mine?” Lance responded, ignoring the heat to his face.

“I wouldn’t wanna do this with anyone else.”

\--

They arrived back in the seaside village by nightfall, but by then they were so exhausted it was all they could do to fall into bed. Of course, Keith perked up once they were in bed, and because Lance was far too tired to herd him down to the beach again, they decided to just scar Hunk for life further. Whatever, they tried out Keith’s gag idea, leaving Lance biting down on the pillow as Keith licked him open with that damned forked tongue. Fuck.

Anyway, the next morning over breakfast was awkward to say the least because the gag idea was a terrible one, and did nothing to conceal Lance’s pained and pleasured noises alike. 

But Lance made quick work of taking the attention off of that particular subject, instead whipping out the map and stretching it out for them all to review. He leaned over the edge of the bar, staring down at his work. He was determined to plan everything out to the most minute detail.

“The trip will take a few days, we’ll need rations.” 

“A few days? Dude, try months. Even by wagon, you can’t possibly expect to get there that f-” Hunk trailed off, following Lance’s line of sight back to Keith. Lance gave him a look, lips curling into a little smarmy grin. Hunk’s eyebrows rose. Lance’s lips parted in a laugh.

Keith was starting to shift uncomfortably under their stares, the entire exchange going right over his head. Lance took pity on him. Lance reached down and slapped him on the ass.

“Saddle up, sweetheart.”

“Shut-up.” Keith growled, hand swiping out to pull Lance into a nearly bone-crushing hug. Lance just tipped his head back and laughed, squirming in his hold. Keith shoved his face into his neck, pressing his teeth to the sensitive skin there. “I’ll bite you.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time, go for it.” Lance countered, grabbing a handful of Keith’s hair and pulling until he finally backed off enough for their eyes to meet. Lance smiled at him, soft and sweet, definitely not hiding evil intentions. His hand, where it still rested, grabbed a handful of Keith’s ass and squeezed. 

“Dude, I want a boyfriend I can ride.” Hunk commented, breaking them out of their moment. At the very least, he seemed to be coming to terms with the fact he would be constantly third-wheeling when they were all together. Lance glanced over at him, confused.

“Hunk, you don’t even want a  _ normal  _ boyfriend.” He reminded his friend. “Trust me, I offered.”

“Okay, fine, I want a  _ girlfriend _ I can ride.”

“Maybe Keith will set you up with a pretty dragon lady once all this is done.” Lance suggested jokingly, but Hunk lit up like it was a genuine offer and Lance immediately knew he’d made a mistake. Whatever, they’d figure something out later. They had more important things to discuss right now.

\--

“Go slow at first, Keith, I’m serious.” Lance’s tone held a warning, as he climbed up Keith’s wing where it was draped across the ground for him. Keith let out a low grunt, but otherwise didn’t complain as Lance scaled him like a particularly hot tree. Lance settled on his back, crawling into a position that felt as secure as he was gonna get. He gripped Keith’s scales and leaned in close, heart racing in his chest. 

They were ready for takeoff, any second now.

Lance lifted his head, waving down at where Hunk was standing in the clearing.

“Good luck, guys!” Hunk hollered, waving them off. And just like that, with one powerful flap of his wings, Keith was lifting off the ground. Lance let out a pathetic yelp, clutching the scales that much tighter and wondering if he could really do this. Maybe they would have to travel by wagon, or horseback, anything to avoid having to-

He looked down. He couldn’t help himself. He had no idea how high they were in the air and he had to know, all of the sudden.

He regretted it immediately. He wished he didn’t know how high they were.

“Keith! I’m gonna fall! I’m gonna die!”

“No, you’re not. I’d never let any harm come to you. Lance, calm down. I’ve got you. You’re not going anywhere.” Keith tried to soothe him, his voice impossibly gentle where it echoed in Lance’s mind. It did nothing to overtake the panicked and very loud thoughts screaming in Lance’s head though. He began to cry, sobbing wetly against Keith’s back.

“No, you’ve gotta land, I can’t do it! We’re so high up, Keith, I could touch the clouds! I’m-” Lance trailed off with a wet hiccup, ever so slowly lifting his head. He blinked the tears out of his eyes, heart rate slowly slowing down, becoming something manageable. 

The view from up here was… incomparable to anything Lance had ever seen. 

He could see out across the ocean, see islands littered in the distance that he never would have known about otherwise. He could see the tall silhouettes of the mountains he used to call home in the distance, his heart clenching painfully in his chest. He could see over the treetops of almost the entire lowlands, oblivious to all the dangers lurking beneath the trees. And, in the distance, the beautiful green grasslands that led in the direction of the castle. 

He hesitantly sat up straighter letting the wind whip at his hair and clothes. He didn’t sway much, protected behind Keith’s massive head as he was. The tears on his face had already dried in the breeze, leaving his cheeks feeling tacky. He forced an uncertain smile.

“You okay back there? Lance?”

“Better.” Lance breathed, leaning back down and tucking himself in close against Keith’s neck.

“Still need me to land?”

“No, I can do this. I trust you.”

\--

Over the course of the next couple days, he grew pretty comfortable with where he was settled on Keith’s back, only stopping for the occasional pit stop. The fear of flying took a backseat to the excitement for all the new and wondrous places he was getting the chance to see. 

They soared through the clouds, Lance with his head tipped back and laughing breathlessly.

He had Keith fly low over different villages, making future plans for them to come back and visit properly. 

And when he saw a lake as blue as his eyes? He had Keith dive down and swoop through the water, sending it flying on either side of them, catching rainbows in the mist.

They communicated almost wordlessly toward the end of it, Lance able to communicate what he wanted simply by a shift of his hips, or moving his hands along the scales of Keith’s neck in a silent guidance. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, how their natural bond everywhere else translated into flying as partners as well, but it did. Lance couldn’t believe how well they worked together like this.

\--

When they finally came across the castle, the atmosphere immediately changed. Keith kept a wide berth, waiting on Lance’s orders completely and wholly, trusting him with all of navigating from here on out. Lance stroked soothingly along Keith’s side, whispering encouragements to him as they grew closer.

“Alright, take us in low, around the cliffside.” Lance grunted, patting his hand against Keith’s flank. His other hand stayed gripping tight to Keith’s scales, with all the strength he could muster. He needed to hold on tight when Keith was turning into a nosedive, ready to head straight down so fast that none of the locals would notice the shadow hurtling toward the castle.

“Hold on.” Keith ordered, despite the fact he could feel Lance adjusting to do just that.

“There’s a back entrance that should let us in right by the prison cells.” 

“I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be, I’ve got your back.” Lance assured him, pressing a kiss to the rough texture of a scale. He tucked his face in close, simply breathing against Keith, eyes closed tightly as he held on. Keith evened out again soon enough, now much lower, cruising beside the lower half of the castle. It was built into a cliff, an ocean surrounding the back half. Lance scanned the cliffside for any tunnels, any entrances that could be the ones Pidge marked out for them. 

“Lance! Above us!” Keith’s voice was panicked. Lance looked up just in time to notice a guard staring through one of the windows, directly at them. There was no way he hadn’t seen. He disappeared as quickly as Lance had seen him, but the damage had been done. He was probably already running to go warn all of the others. 

“Fuck, they spotted us. Quick, forget the other entrance, just go for whatever’s closest. We’ll find out way out later with the map.” Lance said, panicking in the heat of the moment. Sure enough, a tunnel came into view seconds later, and though Lance was sure it wasn’t the planned one, he ordered Keith to dive inside. Keith did without hesitation, eager to get out of the open.

There was just one teensy tiny problem...

“Lance.” Keith sounded worried, as Lance slid off his back and onto his shaky legs. He gripped Keith’s side for support, as he got used to standing on his own again. He stared down the dark tunnel in front of them, noticing the way it narrowed considerably the further it went. Keith curled around him. “I don’t fit down this tunnel unless I transform.”

“You stay here.” Lance said, mind already made up.

“I don’t want to leave you.” Keith whimpered sadly, eyes wide as they stared up at Lance, begging him to have a better answer. Lance sighed, kneeling next to Keith’s head.

“Keith, I’d rather you stayed here, honestly. You can watch this entrance, be ready for a quick escape, that’s important to me.” Lance offered a small smile. “Stay safe. Your other form is too vulnerable.”

“You’re more vulnerable than I am in either form!” 

“I’ll be fine, Keith.” Lance insisted, getting to his feet to leave. But Keith was still whining, low and hurt, like a puppy. Lance turned back, unable to turn his back on that sound. “It’s your turn to trust me.”

“Stay safe.” Keith pressed his nose to Lance’s stomach, inhaling deeply. Lance draped himself over the whole of Keith’s snout, hugging his arms around it. Keith gave a breathy noise, perhaps the dragon-form equivalent of a laugh. Lance pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose, between his two nostrils.

“I will.” Lance assured him. “I’ll come back to you.”

And with that, Lance turned around and took off into the tunnels. He held the map out in front of himself, pleased when it started to glow as the lights grew dim, the further he got into the tunnels. A handy added touch from Pidge’s magic. It illuminated the way for him, as he took winding twists and turns, eventually located the cells in the deepest part of the dungeons. 

Where they kept their most dangerous prisoners.

All of the sudden, for the first time in the entire planning process, Lance stopped to think about who exactly he was on a rescue mission to save. The angry mother-in-law from his nightmares, but with a sprinkle of being a giant dragon with a history of having a short temper and attacking villages in her youth. And she had a personal vendetta against Lance for corrupting her baby boy, her one and only child, that she was fiercely protective over. 

Oh god, come to think of it, did Lance smell like Keith right now? Was the bonding bite noticeable above the collar of his shirt? Would she know what they’d been doing since they reunited?

Ah, fuck it. He promised Keith he was going to do this and he’d risk his life if he had to.

Lance glanced in all of the cells, flinching backward with each terrifying face that stared back at him. Most of them did look like they deserved to be imprisoned in the deepest depths of the prison, but maybe that had something to do with how long they’d been down here already. Either way, Lance didn’t make small talk, he just kept looking for who he was actually here for.

He found her eventually.

Unlike the others who had free roam of the space inside their cells, Krolia was tied in so many chains it was hard to even get a glimpse at anything that wasn’t her face. Her arms were pinned to her body, her legs tied tightly together, her wings bound, completely immobile and incapable of transforming. Lance swallowed. He pulled out the key that Pidge had made for him, sticking it into the cell door.

He watched with bated breath as Krolia stirred from her sleep, bright yellow eyes bolting open, the slits of her pupils so narrow they were barely visible. She attempted to sit up, muffled shouting behind her gag as she glared daggers at Lance. He gathered his courage and walked into her cell anyway.

She looked a lot like Keith, oddly enough. He’d heard her voice before, had seen her dragon form, but it still couldn’t have prepared him for the fact that like this, she really did just look like an exhausted middle aged woman. Aside from the obvious dragon features, she was so human and vulnerable looking that it almost hurt.

“Krolia? Is that you?” He asked, kneeling next to her flailing body. He reached down to take the gag out, wrenching his hand backward fast when she attempted to bite down on it the moment her mouth was free. She was growling viciously, sounding like an angered mother bear. Lance offered her a very, very sheepish smile.

“Who are you?”

“I’m here to help.” Lance said, trying to make sure he sounded honest. She didn’t seem convinced either way, the growls continuing to roll off of her. Lance attempted to reach for the locks holding her chains on, but she only started to thrash angrily, giving him no chance of succeeding. Lance grew quickly frustrated, watching the woman be as difficult as possible. “Krolia, cooperate! Keith is waiting outside and I need to get back to him before they find him!”

“You’re him.” Krolia hissed, realization dawning across all of her features at once. Lance shrunk away from her, momentarily forgetting that he wanted her out of those chains. Krolia’s eyes narrowed into something menacing, prepared for a fight. “The boy. The one Keith always talks about. The one that tempted him away from me and used him for your own gain.”

Lance winced at the words. Was that really how she saw their relationship? 

Lance steeled his nerves, deciding that he wouldn’t let her scare him off. He had a point to prove now, even if it was only to Keith. He cared about Keith far too much to ever use him, the fact he was here risking his life for him should have made that much clear.

“Look, if that’s how you wanna see it, I’m not gonna be able to convince you otherwise. I’m not having this argument with you, I’m just not. I have nothing to prove to you. I’m not here to ask for your blessing, I’m here to save you.” Lance snapped, getting annoyed at this point. He stepped closer, not even waiting for her to stop rolling around to start trying to jab the key into her bindings and unlock them. “For Keith. Because you mean the world to him even after all you’ve done to hurt him, and I won’t let him lose you. He deserves to be happy.”

“You’re a fool, human boy.” Krolia growled out, voice more animal than human. Lance tried not to let his reaction to the words show. He was scared, alright? Damn. He’d never been so scared, but he also wasn’t about to back down. “I’ll be picking you out of my teeth for weeks to come.”

“Lance.” He said, through gritted teeth. “My name is Lance.”

“I don’t care! The second I get outside and can transform again, I swear I’ll-”

“I figure we should start small, work up to getting to know each other.” Lance continued, as if she hadn’t even spoken in the first place. He undid the first of many bindings, tossing the heavy chain aside with a quiet huff. He wiped the sweat from his brow, continuing with the second chain. “My name is Lance and I figure you should get used to hearing it. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You can’t be serious.” Krolia groaned, slumping into a sitting position and giving up on fighting. Lance worked much faster, dropping the next two chains within a minute. He started on the final one, trying to stamp down his amounting nerves. She was being calm now, sitting still and cooperating, maybe she wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d always made her out to be…

The final chain hit the hard brick floor with a metallic clang.

Lance hit the floor literally a second later. 

“Wh-” Lance hardly had time to wrap his head around what had happened before she was choking him out, pinning him to the bricks by her grip around his neck. He gasped uselessly for air, unable to draw in a single breath. She was right in his face, lips pulled back in a snarl, eyes alight with anger. 

“I’ll kill you!”

“Be really cool if you didn’t.” Lance managed to squeeze out of his throat, somehow. Then, like his terrible choice of last words somehow resonated with her, maybe out of pity… her touch fell away. He laid there gasping for breath for a minute afterward, chest heaving uselessly, working in overdrive and still hardly managing to suck air in. He coughed, trying to sit up only for her hand to settle on his chest and shove him down again. He gulped. 

She leaned over him, her gaze icy, unseeing. Her thoughts were somewhere far away.

“Krolia?”

“He bit you? He gave you his bonding bite?” Krolia whispered, so much shock and hurt coloring the words that it would have been funny, if Lance was a pettier person. As it was, he just felt bad. He sat up and this time she let him, even shrunk away from him like she couldn’t bear to look at him. She stared down at her hands, curled them into fists, but the frustration was directed at herself now, not anyone else.

“Hey, we can talk about this later, once we’re back to safety.” Lance offered the smallest of smiles, hoping she wouldn’t punch it clean off his face. She looked up from behind the curtain of her bangs, doing that adorably perplexed eyebrow furrow that up until now Lance had figured was something unique to Keith.

“Dragons only get one of those, you realize.” She said, tone almost conversational as Lance led the way back through the tunnels. He glanced back at her over his shoulder. He wasn’t necessarily surprised by the information, even if Keith had never explicitly told him as much. He just… felt like he knew. It meant something much heavier to Keith than just breaking skin. 

“Yeah, I figured.”

“What did you do to trick him into choosing you?” Krolia’s voice didn’t hold an accusation now, it was more resigned acceptance. Lance glanced over at her, jaw dropping in offense anyway.

“I didn’t trick him!” Lance snapped, lowering his voice to a moderate squawk when he noticed the way it echoed off the cave walls. He stepped closer to her. “I care about him. He cares about me. There isn’t anything more to it than that.”

“You’re a human! You can’t possibly begin to understand the extent of what a dragon bonding bite even means. You’re not an ideal mate, you’re not even a good one! You’ll only live a tenth of his lifespan, if that! Have you thought about any of these things?! Do you have any idea how lonely it is to lose your mate and live on without them?!” Krolia was shouting now, her voice echoing much louder than Lance’s ever had. He shrank back, cowering away from her rant. She made some points. She made many points, really. But it was Keith’s decision to mark him, he really hadn’t influenced in any way. It wasn’t his regret to have, his decision to go back on. Keith wanted him, for better or for worse, and Lance would give him everything.

“Look, I know I’m not ideal, but I’m plenty good for him.” Lance argued gruffly, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. Krolia glared at him. Unconvinced. “I make him happy. Genuinely happy. What more could you really ask for?”

“It’s temporary happiness. You’ll die or move on, humans are fickle creatures, everything they do and are is temporary.”

“I’m not temporary!” Lance shouted finally, spinning around to stand in front of her. She stopped in her tracks, meeting his gaze with an equally as stubborn one of her own. Lance wasn’t backing down though, not again. He stepped closer, tilting his chin up to glare at her. “I’m not temporary. Get used to me. I’ll go out and let a vampire chew on me if that’s what it takes. Then I’ll spend eternity with Keith.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Watch me!”

“No one would wish vampirism upon themselves.”

“If it meant staying with Keith and making him happy, I would!”

“You’re stupid!”

“You’re stupidly overprotective! Keith is an adult now! He can make his own decisions!”

“You hardly know him!”

“I know him in ways you could never hope to know him!” 

“If you cared for him half as much as you let on, you never would have let him mate a human!”

“I care about him double as much as I let on and that’s exactly why I let him make his own decisions! I trust him to know what’s best for himself! Why can’t you?!” Lance shouted back, ending the argument with a stomp of his foot. 

She leaned back, looking him over with a squint. Finally, she turned away with a huff and continued ahead. Her face was still set into a scowl, but her eyes had softened from that animal anger she’d been wearing since meeting, so… Lance was pretty sure he was making progress?

They were nearly back to the exit where Keith was waiting when voices echoed through the tunnels, ones that didn’t belong to either of them. Krolia and Lance exchanged a look, and then they took off running as fast as their legs could carry them.

“I hear footsteps, up ahead!”

Lance led the way, running around corners, glancing at the map every few seconds and hoping he was still on the right path. He didn’t really have time to stop and orient himself, not when they could hear the heavy pound of soldier’s footsteps gaining on them.

Finally, they turned one last corner and they were just there. Keith was awkwardly curled up at the mouth of the cave, eyes widening when he saw people approach. He jumped up as Lance charged toward him, all but jumping at his flank and trying to parkour onto his back. 

“Keith! They’re coming! We need to get out of here fast!” 

“Lance? Are you okay?”

“In one piece, which is more than I could have hoped for.” Lance explained, clambering awkwardly onto Keith’s back and making himself comfortable there. He leaned down then, patting Keith’s head between his horns. “What about you?”

“I’m fine.” Keith told him, purring slightly. “Better now.”

“Keith.” Krolia said, approaching him slowly. Keith’s attention whipped around to her, eyes widening as he took a shuffling step closer. He pressed his nose to her, rubbing his whole head against her body. His purr deepened, to something so content and pleased that it made Lance’s teeth chatter just from sitting on the vibrations.

“Mom.” 

“I told you not to come back for me.” Krolia pinged him on the nose. She pinged the massive dragon currently twenty times her size. Total badass. “Do you listen to anything I tell you anymore?!”

“I would never leave you.” Keith told her, leaning in to swipe his tongue across her face. She didn’t fight it, just let Keith lick her like he was an overexcitable dog and not a full grown dragon. That sort of steel resolve not to freak out in disgust was even more badass. “Besides, I brought help.”

“How much help will he possibly be against an army? He’s a twig.” Krolia regarded Lance with a roll of her eyes. Lance glared back at her, daring her to say something more. She didn’t, instead heading for the mouth of the cave. “Come on, we need to leave now.”

An arrow whisked through the air and they all watched helplessly, as if it were happening in slow motion.

“Mom!” Keith’s voice rang out as it hit, plunging into Krolia’s midsection. Lance gasped.

“Seize them.” A gruff voice rang out. Lance’s head whipped around, to where the King had just walked into his line of view. He was blanketed by soldiers on either side, but Lance could tell that face in a sea of millions. He’d only ever seen it once before, the day he’d come to their village to recruit soldiers and Lance’s father had been chosen. Lance saw red. “ _ Dead or alive _ .”

Lance turned, shoving Keith uselessly toward the cave opening, where his mother was collapsed to her knees and trying to dislodge the arrow from her stomach. She would heal quickly once it was out, just as long as she didn’t stick around and risk getting more wedged into her.

“Go! Keith, fly out of here! Take Krolia!”

“What about y-”

“Go!” Lance yelled, dodging arrows by hiding behind Keith’s wing. It wasn’t a foolproof plan, but the sea of arrows was already raining down on Keith and they only seemed to be breaking skin around his wings, where the scales weren’t so heavy. Keith nosed at Lance, trying to nudge him onto his back. But it wasn’t possible, not without Lance ending up skewered, and he didn’t have the healing capabilities of the dragons on his side.

“But-” 

“Please.” Lance begged, hands settling on either side of Keith’s face. “Please, go to safety. The arrows might not hurt you, but their swords will. You need to leave.”

“Lance.” Keith nosed him, hesitant. But then he was whirling around, lurching in front of Krolia just in time to protect her from being shot again. He picked her up with his front feet, clinging to her shoulders as he dove out of the cave and out over the open ocean. He was out of sight within seconds.

And Lance was left standing in the middle of the cave, his arms raised above his head in surrender.

“Well, looks like it’s just you and me, boys.” Lance smiled, shaky as it was. The metal of swords and arrows glinted back at him, the cruel eyes of men with no sympathy left in them, the laughter of a corrupted King. Lance stood his ground through it all. “Go sparingly on the stabbing, would you?” 

“Stand down.” King Zarkon said, raising his hand. Obediently, all of his soldiers fell back, giving him room to step ahead of the pack. He approached Lance, hands clasped behind his back. Lance glared at the shining jewels of his crown. Hatred so seething it burnt.

“You must be an idiot. To side with the dragons over your own people.” Zarkon taunted. “Traitor.”

“I have more in common with them than I’ll ever have with you.” Lance stuck his chin in the air, refusing to bow to the man even now. He would never show a shred of submission to the throne, not after all they’d taken from him. They couldn’t have more. “You’re a monster.”

“You’re one of the McClain boys, aren’t you?” Zarkon hummed, hand coming to rest on Lance’s chin and tilt it from side to side. A low laugh fell past his lips. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

“You remember my father?”

“Of course I do, son.” King Zarkon placed a hand over his heart, like he was offended by the mere implication that he might not. Lance blinked dumbly back at him, wondering if maybe he’d misinterpreted this all along. Maybe his father was more than just a pawn in a game. Maybe Zarkon had appreciated his sacrifice. 

“What do you remember about him?”

“Oh, it would be easier to tell you the things I don’t.” Zarkon mused, walking around Lance in steady circles, sizing him up. “He  _ was  _ pretty memorable, after all. He was the first one to say those things, the first soldier to doubt my plans. He was so loud, never knew when to keep his mouth shut. I tried to warn him his words would come back to haunt him. He had some righteous ideas, just like you.”

“You killed him.” Lance gasped in realization. He turned, pressing his back to the wall so he could keep his eyes on the enemy at all times. Zarkon didn’t advance though, just stood back and laughed at the horror in Lance’s voice. “It wasn’t even a mission you sent him on. He died by your hand!”

“Oh, goodness me, no.” Zarkon dismissed quickly, messing with Lance’s head as he was made to doubt his running theory over and over again. “I hired someone else to do it for me. Just like I did for my wife, and as I will do for my son when he becomes an obstacle to my plans. Assassination is far too messy of a job for a king, don’t you think?”

“I hate you!” Lance screamed, ripping the sword off his back and swinging it hard. The King dodged effortlessly, laughing at his poor swordsmanship, and then Lance threw his entire body at him. They collided with a thud, and Lance thrust his sword up, through the man’s stomach with a sick tearing noise.

“Your majesty!” One of the soldiers shouted, but Lance barely heard it. He didn’t even look up, too transfixed on the blood spilling from the front of the King’s robes, trickling down the length of his blade in the deepest shade of red. Lance waited for the regret to settle, for him to doubt what he’d just done. But it never came, nothing but a sick sense of justice enveloping him. He did what he had to do. He did what was right. 

He braced himself for the pain, for the arrows to rain down on him and put an end to the man who killed the King single handedly… but nothing came. Only a scream.

“Retreat!” That was what broke Lance from his reverie. He looked up, watching as the soldiers tripped over each other in their rush to get out of the cave, to get around the corner. Lance was confused, until a wave of fire filled the cave he’d just been staring at, rippling and rolling around the corners. Lance stumbled backward, dangerously close to the bite of the flames. 

He collided with the foot of the dragon breathing fire through the caves. He looked up, recognizing Krolia’s eyes and the purple tint to her scales immediately. He looked for a wound where the arrow had been, but in this form it was impossible to see. Or perhaps it had already healed.

Lance stood aside, out of the danger zone, until she finished breathing fire. She leaned back then, turning to him with an unreadable expression.

“You killed him.” Her voice invaded Lance’s head, much softer than it was in person. He blinked the stupor off his face, nodding his head. He looked down now, at the charred remains that had been the King of the land just moments before. He bent down, hissing in pain as he picked up the crown, still hot from the fire despite rolling out of the heat of the blaze.

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Impressive.” Krolia said simply, casually, like she was complimenting him for bringing home a hefty buck during a hunting trip, not for… downing a person. Lance looked to her in confusion, only to scream as her jaw parted, her gaping maw coming straight at him.

“Krolia, what are y-” Lance tried to run, but it was too late. Her lips closed around him, surprisingly mindful of the teeth, and her tongue drew him back fully into her mouth. It was burning hot, like the hottest day of summer on the beach and then some, and immediately Lance decided this was what it would feel like to be cooked alive. “Are you going to kill me?! No! Please, don’t-” 

“Quiet.”

“Is this some form of slow and painful torture? You’re not even going to chew, you’re just gonna let me melt in your mouth?!” Lance sobbed brokenly, clutching the crown in his hands. “Krolia, please! My intention was never to hurt Keith. From the very start, I only ever wanted to be good to him!”

“Shut-up, stop squirming around.”

“Krolia! I love him!” Lance pleaded, clinging onto one of her pointed teeth just in case she attempted to swallow him whole. He wasn’t going to let go, he wouldn’t. What a terrible way to go this was, imagine Keith’s outrage if he found out his mother ate his boyfriend alive. “He loves me too! You know he does! If you eat me right now he will never forgive you, you’ll drive a wedge between the two of you that can’t be undone. Just trust him, okay? Trust me.”

And then, the heavens sang and Lance rejoiced, as her mouth opened and he saw the light again. 

She spat him out indifferently, letting him fall out of her mouth into the grass. He sat up immediately, gagging for fresh air, trying to dry himself off by rolling around. It was a lost cause though, and his skin began to crawl with total disgust. Was this dragon drool going to dry on him? This was so much worse than Keith licking him to show affection, this was the sickest most terrible thing he’d ever-

“I wasn’t eating you.” Krolia said simply, laying beside him in her dragon form. “I had to bring you back to him. I wouldn’t have been able to live with Keith’s angst if you two separated again, especially not now that you’re mated. I’d never hear the end of it.”

“Lance!” Despite the voice being in his head, Lance felt like he inherently knew which direction to turn to see Keith running toward him. He bounded forward on four legs, the ground shaking as Lance got to his feet and prepared for impact. Keith’s head was massive and it hurt as it collided solidly with his gut, barreling him over. But it was worth it, as Keith nosed all over him, underneath his shirt even. Lance shoved at him uselessly, laughing all the while. “Lance, I’m so happy you’re alright!”

“I know, Keith, I know.”

“I was so worried about you!” Keith continued, rolling over onto his side and nipping at Lance’s clothes, playful as his legs kicked through the air. He rolled over, tail wrapping around Lance and dragging him back in close. “Never do that again, you hear me?!”

“Well, we should get going.” Krolia’s voice rang out in both their minds, causing them both to freeze, laughter dying out. Lance looked toward her, sitting up and readjusting his clothes from where Keith had left them in a state of disarray. Keith looked up at her, taking a step forward and placing himself protectively between his mother and Lance.

“Mom.”

“Keith.” She replied, her voice the same tone, a mockery of Keith’s seriousness. He growled at her.

“This is Lance.” Keith said, nosing Lance forward. He stood taller, proud, showing off his find. Lance sat nervously in the grass. He waved up at her, awkward, knowing this was some kind of monumental moment between them. “I’m not going to ask for your opinions, I don’t want to hear what you think-”

“I think he’s sort-of stupid.” Krolia interrupted him, but the insult didn’t land properly. There was no venom, none of the finality that anyone had been expecting. Even she seemed shocked to hear fondness in her own voice. Keith’s tail started wagging behind him even before she continued.

“ _ But _ ?”

“But… he’s got a big heart.” Krolia said, eyeing Lance as she spoke. “He’s brave. He’s conventionally handsome, I suppose, for a human. He smells okay. He tastes terrible, but I suppose that isn’t my problem. And… he cares about you a lot, enough to risk his own life.”

“That’s as close to an approval as I was hoping to get.” Keith laughed, tumbling forward to lean into his mother in an embrace. They wrapped their necks around each other, Keith’s head settling in the crook of her wing. Lance watched the exchange, feeling a pang of longing for his own mother. 

“Thanks, guys. Haha, very funny, pick on the poor defenseless human.” Lance huffed. He shouldn’t have opened his mouth, he really shouldn’t have, because before he could take off running Krolia had pounced. Except, rather than teeth tearing into him, it was yet another encounter with her stupid scaly tongue as she licked the back of his head and left his hair standing in every which direction. Lance screeched, trying to wring it out. “Ew!” 

“I guess you can keep him around.” Krolia said, finally. “Cheap entertainment, if nothing else.”

“You mean that?” Keith asked, looking up at her.

“I trust your judgement.” Krolia said, and when Lance looked up at her in surprise their eyes met. She held his gaze, something akin to a smile playing out on her lips. “If you’re convinced he’s the only one for you… all I can do is stand by you and hope you’re right.”

“I am.” Keith told her, nuzzling under her wing. “I know I am.”

\--

“The house has never been so warm in winter.” Lance announced conversationally, as everyone else in the room glared daggers in his direction. He chuckled awkwardly, avoiding their gazes, trying desperately to paint this moment in a good light. “Remember the days of freezing? Of blue lips and chattering teeth? Your fingers going numb? Well, they’re no more! We have enough heat to warm the entire town!”

“My eyeballs are sweating.” Marco said, deadpan.

“I can’t feel my skin anymore, I think it’s liquified.” Veronica sighed, unimpressed.

“I made the mistake of touching a metal surface and I think I burnt my hand.” Rachel whimpered, nursing the injury against her chest. 

Lance gave up with a sigh, relaxing back against the rise and fall of Keith’s chest behind him. Alright, fine, they could be that way. He would just sit here and bask in the heat. And sure, it was bordering on too much, made him want to crawl out of his skin and dive into the snow piled up outside… but this was the hill he was going to die on. He wouldn’t go back on his word.

As far as his family was concerned, he was perfectly comfortable right where he was, tucked under Keith’s wing with the crushing weight of a dragon’s foot digging into his stomach. Yep. Comfortable.

“Lance, come on! I know you’re struggling to breathe under there, just admit it!” Luis shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. Lance just shook his head, back and forth, in and out, he could do this. He was breathing just fine, for the most part. 

“Lance?” This time it was his mother’s voice, sweet and kind, filled with understanding. 

She’d been so very good to him since he first showed up at the front door for this visit three weeks ago, had welcomed him back with open arms and a thousand apologies. Lance accepted all of them, told her he was sorry for ever pinning the blame solely on her. Things were okay now! They were finally okay.

“Yes, Mama?”

“Sweetheart, as much as we love Keith and we’re so glad to have you both back home for a visit…” His mother paused, her smile twitching with the strain of holding it on her face. Her eyes narrowed. “If you don’t talk to him and stop this madness, I will kick you out.”

“Mama, look at him!” Lance cried, outraged by her betrayal. He thought if anyone would back him up on this and be on his side, it would be his mother! He leaned over, stretching his arms wide to cup either side of Keith’s dragon face, using all his strength to lift it up and frame it cutely. “You really want me to wake him up? Look how peaceful he is.”

“He’s going to burn the house down if this keeps up!” She hissed back at him. “He sleeps like the dead!”

“Fine!” Lance huffed out, prying himself out from under Keith’s foot despite the low grumble of protest that came from deep in the dragon’s chest. Lance turned over, crawling until he was next to Keith’s ear. He stroked a hand down Keith’s face, tracing the dips and dives of his scales. “Keith, sweetheart? You still in there? Can you wake up for me?”

“Hm?” Keith roused slowly, one eye cracking open to flick back and forth around the room, lazily registering his surroundings and making sure there weren’t any threats. Then, his eye closed again, and he started to roll over. Lance yelped, jabbing a hand up his nostril to get his attention fast.

“Keith! Stay still!” Keith huffed out a plume of smoke that filled the house and sent all of Lance’s family packing, running out into the yard for fresh air. Lance pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth, but he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face even if he tried as Keith opened both eyes in confusion. He was fully awake now, coming back to himself. Lance pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

“Lance?”

“Sorry to wake you, you looked like you were having a nice dream.” Lance told him, voice smooth like butter, comforting. Keith eyed him in confusion, actually registering where he was now, and what form he was in. He looked a little spooked. Lance shushed him. “You shifted in your sleep, don’t freak out.”

“Wh-” 

“It happens, don’t be embarrassed.” Lance assured him. “You didn’t squish anyone, you’re fine.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately, all I wanna do is sleep.” Keith’s voice came in a whine in Lance’s head, the first full sentence he’d managed to form since his power nap. Lance laughed, cuddling closer to his side, despite how his body protested the added heat.

“I mean, can you blame yourself? You’re doing an awful lot of growing.” Lance told him, fingertips tracing the lines of his horns, from base to the pointed tip. Keith’s eyes followed the movement, but the rest of him made no effort to move. “Soon you won’t be able to fit in here at all in this form.”

“Hm.” Keith hummed, contemplative. “You need a bigger house.”

“... Or you could sleep outside.” Lance muttered, through his teeth.

“Shut-up.” Lance barely had time to react to the warning growl before the giant shape of a dragon he’d been cuddled up to rippled away beneath him, replaced by a mostly-human Keith. He grinned as Lance fell backward, hitting his head off the floor with a grunt. He was left staring up at Keith, eyes wide.

“Hey! Keith! We’re still in the family room, you fucking animal! Put some clothes on, someone is gonna see y-” Keith shut him up with a hand over his mouth, eyes dark with intent as he hitched a leg over Lance’s hips and settled down on top of him. Lance scrambled to grab a blanket and wrap it around Keith’s shoulders, hoping his wings would hold it up somewhat. Keith, displeased by this development, grabbed Lance’s hands and pinned them above his head.

“Bigger house it is.” Keith said, rocking back and forth on top of Lance, grinning devilishly. The blanket fell from his shoulders, thankfully pooling around his hips and keeping his lower half blocked from view all the same. Lance stared toward the door, praying no one would walk in on them. 

This is exactly why he chose not to wake Keith from deep sleep, especially the type where he was shifting and kicking out while unconscious. He always woke up horny. Every fucking time. 

Keith leaned over him, demanding his attention by pressing their foreheads together. He stared into Lance’s eyes from the close proximity, pupils blown out with desire. “I’m thinking a castle. Maybe one in the mountains with a nice view of the valley.”

“I’m not moving in with you and Krolia, she’s terrifying.” Lance said immediately, shaking his head. His hands came up, gripping Keith’s hips to get him to still his constant dirty grind. He sat up, nearly knocking Keith onto his ass. “Besides, I have to go back to work someday. Hunk needs me.”

“Fine.” Keith grumbled, taking Lance’s outstretched hand and allowing himself to be led back to the privacy of their bedroom. Lance’s older brother had done them the favor of offering to sleep on the couch the entire time they were staying, so they had it all to themselves. “We’ll build our own castle then. By the ocean.”

“I might be able to live with that.” Lance mused, glancing over at him. He smiled, soft and adoring. Keith leaned in to brush their lips together, real sweet like considering how nasty he’d been acting moments before. Lance was almost certain he didn’t even want to _ have _ sex, was probably just finding the quickest way to convince Lance to go back to bed in the middle of the day. Lazy ass.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked it. There's something uniquely appealing about having a giant dragon boyfriend?? Like Lance really and truly is living the life. We should all aspire to be just like him.
> 
> Hope you're all enjoying spooks month!! I have more content coming your way next Tuesday/Thursday!! Watch out!!
> 
> Leave me a comment, i am but a poor lonely monsterfucker screaming into the void
> 
> You can find me on social media at @melancholymango on twitter/tumblr  
Or, I also have a nsfw account on twitter @redgaysonly where I post the occasional klance thread, headcanon, etc..


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